It’s another year, another election and another group of candidates jockeying for your vote. But according to a CBS poll, approximately 14 million fewer voters aged 18 to 29 turned out for the 2014 elections than the 2012 elections.

Sure, it wasn’t a presidential election, but it was just as important given that it shifted the balance of power in the legislative branch—a change that has a direct effect on whether the president can achieve an objective.

Time and again, the media announces how important securing the youth vote is for a candidate, but we only make up an average of 13 percent of the national electorate, mainly because we as a group do not go out and vote.

With the presidential primaries looming in the coming months, now is the time to get registered to vote if you haven’t already. If you are attending NMU from out of state, absentee ballots can be requested in advance that will allow you to participate as well.

Young people should feel their voices are being heard in politics. As we continue to get older and become more a part of the adult world, we should realize that politics matter. It starts to matter when we have to worry about how much health insurance costs and how we are going to pay back student debt. It will matter when we eventually apply for a home loan and when we get a job to keep food on the table for our families.

The people who hold the position of president, as well as other positions in government, have power over the things that matter to us. The economy matters to us. It matters how much insurance costs, how high interest rates are on a loan and even how much a gallon of gas costs.

Voting is a part of society that brings us closer together through informed citizenship. Not only that, but this will also undoubtedly be one of the most important elections of our lives as millennials. It’s our duty as self-governing people to be informed and to cast our ballot in the direction that best serves our interests.

As the election cycle begins to heat up, remember that you do have a voice and can affect the course of history by taking a few minutes out of your day to visit the polls. If anything, it will give you a greater sense of civic responsibility by doing your part to keep America a free and just society.