SPOKANE, Wash. — Leading up to election day, a small group of students are talking about community issues at The Community School.
Students are taking part in a roundtable about why it's important to vote.
"My voice matters, as well as all of my peers. And I think it's important because this is going to be our future that I'm going to have to live in," 16-year-old Josie Cresei said.
Cresei isn't even old enough to vote, but she's already trying to teach her friends the importance of voting.
"To help youth understand more about politics and help educate other people as well," Cresei said.
The county says that more than 66,000 ballots have already been returned for this year's election. But out of the ballots that have been returned, only about 5% have been returned from voters aged 18 to 24 compared to almost 38% of voters aged 65 and older.
"I'm not surprised at the lower turnout for younger voters. But I'm always disheartened by that," Spokane County Auditor Vicky Dalton said.
Dalton says because younger people are busier than people who are retired, most young people might forget when election day is.
"They're trying to raise families, they're they're trying to keep their career going," Dalton said. "They may be running, you know from one soccer game to the next soccer game."
But for one student at The Community School, it's a privilege.
"I've been pre-registered for a while and I was just excited to finally get to voice my opinion in our community," Artemis Chanse said.
Chanse turns 18-years-old on election day.
"It definitely made me feel more adult, I'd say yeah, just finally getting to voice my opinion, and have it actually be heard," Chanse said.
Dalton says there's still a long way to go to get youth voters to turn out. About 50% of the ballots don't come in until election day, but even then, the majority of those are from 65 and older.
With only five days until the election, the county auditor recommends getting your ballot in sooner rather than later. You can drop them off at your closest library or the elections office.
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