John A. Cunningham, a politician, sat down Feb. 3, 2016 giving his advice for new voters, to help make their first voting experience effective.

“You have the ability to participate in how the government would be run by voting,” said Cunningham. “It’s important to get involved as young as you can because you have to make sure that your interests, as young people and the general interest of the country, are presumed.”

He continued to say to new voters that he or she should research the candidates before voting to make sure they represent his or her best interest.

“Look deeper than what people say and do, you know? [Like] what they’ve accomplished, and how they’ve done in their life and what their values are.”

There are 218,959,000 people eligible to vote, but only 146,311,000 are registered according to statisticbrain.com. Cunningham made it very clear that those people who do not vote are only hurting themselves.

“Their actually eliminating their right to protest when things happen because if they don’t participate in the selection, they aren’t doing their duty and they more or less deserve what we elect,” said Cunningham.

Statisticbrain.com confirmed only 126,144,000 people voted in 2012.

“They should be ashamed of themselves. They should not only vote, but they should get involved in the political government process,” said Cunningham.

Cunningham emphasized all of the great opportunities getting involved in voting does, including internships and jobs.

“We do hire pole watchers,” Cunningham said. “That’s where a student can make one hundred and fifty dollars that day to go towards their schooling.”

Getting involved is clearly one of the most important things to do, according to Cunningham.

Elgin Community College’s Student Government encourages students to register to vote by providing students a space and Chromebooks to register. Student Government has this event every year before the early voting date according to Andrew Trulock, a member of Student Government.

“I guess my main thing is, my advice to people is to get involved, that not only means to register and vote but also get involved and understand what you are voting for,” said Cunningham.