By Alex Bosworth
News Writer
Photo by Drew Danko

Tuesday, students who will turn 18 before the 2016 general election had the opportunity to register to vote during lunch periods. This seems early because of how far the election is, but these students actually have an opportunity to vote much sooner than next November. Based on the Suffrage at 17 law passed in 2014, 17-year-olds can vote in the primary elections and caucuses, as long as they will be 18 by the general election.

One of Metea’s own social studies teachers, Susan Fuhrer, was at the forefront of the process to get this law created, by being one of the people who helped collect signatures from students for the petition to create a bill.

“If you’re going to be able to vote in the general election, I think it’s very important that you should get to make that choice about who should actually run,” Fuhrer said.

A lot of voters are turned off from voting in general elections because they don’t like the candidates. Opening the opportunity for voting in the primaries helps try to eradicate that issue for many who previously could not vote for their candidate of choice because of their age.

“I honestly believe that my vote makes a difference, and I want to have my say,” senior Shehla Chowdhury said. Chowdhury was one of many who registered to vote on Tuesday. “Registering to vote is especially important for people in our age group, the 18-25 demographic is a very important group in these elections and can make a big difference.”

The primary elections in Illinois will not take place until March 16, 2016, so if you are eligible to cast your vote for America’s presidential nominees, you still have opportunities to register to do so.

“I think that young people’s voices really need to be heard, and also, young people’s voices are sometimes different than the older population, and if they don’t get the choice to vote in the primaries, I don’t think they get the full power of their vote,” Fuhrer said.