Diary of a Gen Z Student: Young voters do care - here's why I'll be using my vote on March 8

Jane Cowan is a student in Trinity College Dublin, where she is in her second year, studying English.

I remember waking up with a vague sense of bitterness when I was in primary school any time there was voting going on. 

You see, I had figured out that some schools got the day off, so that the building could be used as a polling station. Mine was not one of the lucky schools. And I was not too pleased about that. 

But I have just turned 20; I’m a big girl now. A few weeks ago, I registered to vote. The upcoming referendum will be my first opportunity to vote since I turned 18.

I remember going to the polling station with my parents when I was younger. I used to stand with each of them, at the tiny table, behind the screen, as they filled out the ballot paper. 

I even filled it in for my dad, as he instructed me, once or twice. It was all quite exciting, if I’m honest.

I picked up some funny ideas about voting at the time. I was convinced that it was illegal to tell someone what you planned on voting for. 

I was also fairly certain that forgetting to vote was a criminal offence. I was interested in it all, but certain concepts had gotten lost in translation.

The marriage equality referendum in 2015 was an interesting time. I remember it so clearly. 

I was in fifth class. I remember walking around the school wearing a ‘Vote Yes’ badge that I had found lying on a table in my house at the time. 

I also remember sitting in Mass when the parish priest mentioned that they were organising buses, to bring people to protest against marriage equality. 

I was surprised by that at the time. But my vote will count just as much as his one, now. And that’s not an insignificant thing.

I often hear that young voters don’t care; that we’re ill-informed, that we just blindly make our liberal votes, because we feel that’s what we’re supposed to do. And I find it so frustrating to listen to. 

Of course, there’s always going to be people who don’t take their vote seriously. But in my experience, there are also a lot of us who really care.

We don’t appreciate being told that we’re apathetic. It’s such a myopic and linear perception of us. And it’s just not the case. 

My vote won’t be ill-informed. I have read the articles in the Constitution that I’ll be voting on. I have read the proposed changes. 

I’ll be voting yes to both referenda, to broaden the description of what constitutes a family, to remove the clause that places the woman’s role solely in the home, and to recognise the work of all caregivers. 

And those changes being made matter to me. 

As a woman, and as someone who watches the care that my family members receive, the Constitution being more inclusive, and representative of Ireland, matters to me. My vote isn’t something that I’ll take lightly.

I find it interesting to see how my fellow Gen Z students talk about voting. Some don’t feel particularly compelled to exercise their right, but many do. 

Those who don’t are not disinterested; it seems to me that they don’t particularly value their own vote. They don’t feel like it has much impact.

In some ways, I understand where they’re coming from. Sure, what’s one vote? But in Ireland, we fought long and hard to be able to vote on our own Constitution, to elect an Irish Government. That fight means something. 

Each vote holds weight. There are so many who are effectively voiceless within the politics that govern their life. 

Palestinians being obliterated do not get to vote for the regime that brutally rules every aspect of their lives. Though it should not be, it is a privilege to have a voice. So, I’ll be using my vote on March 8.

I’m excited about making my first solo trip to the polling station. Showing my ID, getting to fill out my own ballot paper, putting it into the box. Democracy in action. 

I feel lucky to be afforded that vote. I am happy to know that I’ll be voting for something that matters. 

It’s not true that the young voters don’t care. To a lot of us, the opportunity to vote is a significant thing, something we do value.