As the Nov. 8 midterm elections are around the corner, Manitou Springs High Schools’ National Honors Society chapter is preparing students who are eligible in the upcoming election to do online voter registration. 

It is imperative to plant the seed of voting in students’ minds while they are around neutral guidance that can help them navigate the tricky process. 

While many students and adults within the community may feel that voting has no impact on their lives because they do not experience the outcomes of propositions, amendments or other decisions made by elected officials, the Colorado 2022 midterm presents multiple proposals that are unique to the community. 

First, Proposition FF reduces the number of allowable tax deductions for specific individuals and relocates that money to the Healthy School Meals for All Program. This proposition directly impacts high school students, potentially affecting the quality and variety of school lunches. 

In addition, there are also propositions regarding Drug Crime Policies and Healthcare (Proposition 122, which decriminalizes and provides access to psychedelic plants and fungi); Affordable Housing Initiatives (Proposition 123, which provides  more housing opportunities to lower-income people) and Alcohol and Business Regulation (Proposition 125, which gives grocery, convenience and other stores who have a beer license also to sell wine and conduct wine tastings). 

Even though many of these propositions may not directly affect or impact MSHS students right this moment, it is still critical to do your civic duty and vote on these issues so that your opinions help influence the election outcome, which will affect you indirectly now and indirectly in the future.

MSHS students can register online at www.GoVoteColorado.gov. And MSHSs’ chapter of the National Honors Society is attempting to aid students in the registration process, intending to obtain 85% of the eligible students to be registered either online or by mail starting Oct. 3 during Advisory.

It is critical to note that even though you can register with a party’s affiliation, it is not required. It may even be better to stay unaffiliated; that way, you are not influenced by specific parties while you are still determining what you believe on certain issues.

Voting can be one of an adult’s most controversial and even friendship-breaking tasks. Therefore, it is essential that students form a well-rounded, balanced opinion based on facts. I encourage all students to set aside time to go over different candidates, amendments and propositions to familiarize themselves with them. Also, it might be helpful to research the actual practical effects of what they are voting on; that way, they can determine their opinions on those subjects, regardless of the influence of others. 

Many students tend to levitate towards banters or outrage towards specific policies or elected officials, and voting provides a stellar opportunity to decide on how they want Colorado to look in the future and on a microscale, how they want their hometown to look as well.  

So, encourage your children, fellow classmates or friends to preregister (ages 16 and 17) or register (18 and older) using the link above and start researching the options that will be on their ballot. There is no better way to do your civic diligence and directly affect their community than voting!