A Letter From the Editor: A Lesson From the US Election

Written by Gena Dufour

Thumbnail photo by Politico

For the last week, it’s cluttered the media, the news, and all our social feeds- the US 2020 election. Today, November 7, 2020 at about 12:30pm AST, the Associated Press called the race: Democrat nominee Joe Biden has won the 2020 presidential election.

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

For many, this news is an incredible relief. As a Canadian, can I just say, I am glad it’s over. This has been a stressful time for all of us and personally, I haven’t gotten any work done in the last week.

I’m going to leave the political analysis to the political analysts. However, I would like to bring attention to what is one of the most notable aspects of this election: the turnout. Nearly 160 Million Americans voted in this election, which means that this election had the single highest voter turnout in (modern) US history. 

The significance of this is beyond words, and I believe that we, as informed Canadians, can learn a few things from this election – and I don’t just mean “learn to count faster than Nevada did” (what was that about, honestly?).

No, we can take a lead from the demographics – specifically, the US projections are stating that more young people voted this year than in 2016. This signifies an incredible, and meaningful shift in politics, because young people are typically more liberal than older adults. But for years, most voters have been  older, and typically White. Also notable this year,  many analysts have argued the (albeit marginal) win might be directly related to the increase in Black Americans who were able to head to the polls this year.  

There are a lot of lessons that we as Canadians can learn from this election, in particular, that every vote counts. This election was, in the eyes of many, far too close for comfort. Many states reported razor thin margins and from my perspective, it really appears to be the new, younger generation of voters that swung the results.

Canada’s elections might not be as dramatic and fear-mongering as American elections, but I certainly believe that we, the young voters, can take this year's US election as proof that we have the power to elicit change in our political systems.It’s important that young Canadians get involved with (and stay involved with) Canadian politics rather than investing all of our attention and activism into US-focused issues. In other words, it’s important Canadians continue this momentum with the next Canadian election. 

I’ll end this letter by issuing a “congratulations” to president elect Joe Biden and vice president elect Kamala Harris. We still have lots to do, but this is definitely momentum in the right direction. Here’s hoping for a better next four years, and cheers to a tiny step forward. 

~ Gena Dufour

Executive Editor, The SMU Journal