Kirstin Muscott

Professor Thiel
The Individual and Society
3 December 2016
Final Issue Paper
For my final issue paper, Im going to discuss how my service learning project relates to
voter apathy. Voter apathy is a very serious issue, and its very apparent in American politics.
After the results of our most recent election, the internet was flooded with people posting things
along the line of I didnt vote, so this isnt my fault. Luckily, most users responded by saying
that a neglected vote is a wasted one. Before I get too into voter apathy, Im going to briefly
outline my service learning project.
The majority of my service learning project took place in nursing homes. Most of my
time in said facilities was spent performing with a student run group of band students. We put
together a 15 piece program, with a fall series (regular music), winter series (Christmas music),
and a spring series (back to regular music). The rest of my time spent at three nursing homes in
Tawas City was spent playing games with residents and simply talking to them. I also got the
wonderful opportunity to get a tuberculosis shot. Aside from the last thing on my list of
volunteer activities, I really enjoyed being at the nursing homes, playing cards and hearing the
residents very interesting stories, and getting free cookies.
The part of my service learning I didnt spend in a nursing home I spent helping out with
our schools band program. Compared to the sports programs at my school, our fine arts are
really underfunded, so a lot of our money and effort comes from students and parents. Every

year, we host a band bazaar. We fill the entire building with vendors, and have an entire day
dedicated to raising money for the band program. Its a two day event, and it only happens once
a year, but between these two days, I logged 17 hours. Its a lot of work, but its really satisfying
to know that even though Im a senior, Im helping secure funds that will go towards my band
for years to come. This part of my service learning project also related to one of the other topics
we covered, which is how extracurricular activities can be beneficial for kids and teens.
To summarize my service learning project, I spent it helping people, and thats why I
enjoyed the hours that I put in so much.
As Ive just explained, I spent most of my service time in a nursing home. Through my
copious amount of time spent in these facilities Ive observed that the senior citizens of America
are some of the most patriotic people Ive ever met. But, when it comes to senior citizens, voting
can be an iffy subject. By this, I mean that while citizens who are 60 years and older have the
highest voter turnout (over 70%), it can be difficult for them to vote when they reside in long
term care facilities.
While the main point of my volunteering in nursing homes was to get a better
understanding of the care that residents receive, I admittedly found myself interested in their
social lives in their nursing home. The staff members in these facilities go above and beyond by
constantly interacting and socializing with their residents, and there are scheduled days where
residents get to leave. However, taking a bus full of elderly people, most of whom need help
getting around, to vote can be a process. It might not seem like that big of a deal that the
residents of these home dont get to vote, but 1.3 million people live in nursing homes

throughout America. While the total population of America is (as of 2014) 318.9 million, this is
still a whopping amount of people.
If over a million people who hail from the age group with the largest voter turnout arent
even getting the opportunity to vote, then what does that say for the age groups that have a very
low voter turnout (the highest turnout for the age group of 18-29 since 1984 was 50% in 2008)?
Voter apathy is a major issue that can affect the political climate of any nation, not just America.
Just the results of our last election can show how big of a role voter apathy can play.
Now that Ive stated that it can be difficult for residents of long term care facilities to
vote, Id like to quickly go over how they can vote, because I think that when discussing voter
apathy, how to counteract it is equally as important. The first thing that a resident has to do is
register to vote with the address that is provided to them by their facility. If said facility does
have the option to bus its residents to the polls, then those folks are set. For senior citizens who
live in nursing homes that dont have that available, then there is another option. They do (in 23
states) have the ability to vote mobily. They have to be supervised (standards and regulations on
who is allowed to supervise the mobile voting process vary in the different states), but they can
vote from their residence if they are physically unable to get to a registered poll. The ability to be
able to vote without physically attending the polls can be obtained by meeting your states
requirements to have the right to vote absentee. Although through mobile voting its easy to see
that steps are being taken to less the damage done by voter apathy, its still an issue in our
country.
Stepping away from the specific situation surrounding the elderly and not being able to
vote, there are people in America who are fully able to vote, but choose not to. The group thats

at the core of this is millenials. The voting turnout rate for the 18-29 age group for the 2016
election was under 20%. As an avid user of social media, this is especially infuriating for me. I
say this because on social media, especially Tumblr and Twitter, all you see is people from that
age group preaching about change and how they want to make things happen. And yet, one of
the top news stories about millennials is how they managed to trick the internet into believing
that Harambe (the gorilla who got put down at the Cincinnati Zoo) got over 11,000 votes in the
election.
While a lot of blame for voter apathy being so apparent in the 2016 election can be
placed on millennials, it is easy to see that voter apathy spans generations. The age group of
30-44 (the example Ill use for this age group is my parents, who are both 41) came in with a
voter turnout of around 30% during the 2016 election. Personally, I can say that only my mother
voted. For all the elections Ive been alive for, only my mother has voted. My dad has always
told me that our individual votes dont matter, and since Hillary won the popular vote, he is even
more sure of his ideals concerning voting. The other age group that Ive found results for was the
age group of 45-60, who, for the 2016 election had a turnover rate of just over 40%. This shows
that even though elders are the most likely to be physically unable to vote, theyre also the age
group that votes the most.
The other topic that I can very easily relate to my service learning project is the most
obvious; health care. Most people who are in nursing homes pay for the costs of living there with
Medicaid, or they have family who pay. This means that most long term care facility residents
are low-income or simply dont have any money left. From personal experience, I can say that
when my great grandfather went into hospice, he pre-paid his room for three years, wrote his

will, and then put all of his money away. My grandpa was a fairly wealthy man, so this wasnt a
problem for him. But, for other people, nursing homes can be a very large expense. On average,
a private room in a nursing home costs around $83,000 a year. Per year, nursing home costs are
rising about 4%, and on average, and approximately 10,000 baby boomers turn 65 everyday. Due
to this, prices for Medicaid are clearly going to rise in the near future, which is just going to
make things more difficult for senior citizens.
Health care is an issue for everyone, with Obamacare being controversial at best, but
elderly people have the most health problems. Between the high cost of nursing homes and the
simple fact that the older you get the more frail you get, Medicaid needs to be affordable.
In conclusion, the two topics that I can personally relate to my service learning project
are voter apathy and healthcare. My time spent with the elderly showed me that they are the most
patriotic, passionate people Ive ever met, and their willingness to leave the comfort of their care
facilities shows that even though voter apathy is a plague in our country, its not because of our
senior citizens.

Works Cited
McDonald, Michael P. "Voter Turnout Demographics ." Electproject.org. N.p., n.d. Web.

"How to Vote While in a Nursing Home." Elderlawanswers. N.p., 8 July 2016. Web.

Underhill, Wendy. "Voting for Residents of Long Term Care Facilities." Www.ncsl.org. N.p., 16
Dec. 2013. Web.