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Some may claim that our digital world is ruining younger generations. While it's a debated topic that email, social media, and everything that comes with a heavily digitized society is dumbing down future generations, a Fairfax County, VA official may have revealed hard proof of that in an emerging trend.
When unable to make it to the voting booths during any major election, voters are encouraged to send in absentee ballots. According to Lisa Connors of the Fairfax County Office of Public Affairs, when it comes to students, they "will go through the process of applying for a mail-in absentee ballot, they will fill out the ballot, and then, they don't know where to get stamps."
Connors goes on to confirm that in a focus group, many stated that "they knew lots of people who did not send in their ballots because it was too much of a hassle or they didn't know where to get a stamp."
While Fairfax is hoping to combat this issue by raising awareness of the option for in-person absentee voting, which will be available on Friday, Sept. 21, this revelation brings up a separate concern. The fact that students today don't know where to buy stamps isn't too shocking. It's a similar to 90s kids who were shocked to learn about records; unlike children of the 90s however, Generation Z grew up with Google at their fingertips.
"Where to buy stamps" is a simple search that brings up options in the immediate location of the individual. While Fairfax's physical absentee ballots may help curb some of the issue, the fact that students didn't know where to buy stamps and couldn't be bothered to Google it is troublesome and indicative of another concern.
Granted, this isn't a widespread concern across the nation. Based on the answers given in Fairfax County and the surprise shown across social media, postage is prepaid in some states.
Any election is an important time for voters of any age to spring into action. For the November primaries, many across social media are calling upon Millennials and Generation Z to have a presence.
H/T: Business Insider, Politico Post, WTOP