By Daniel Teweles, 10 Questions

We’ve heard the maxims before, been told too many times: “Voting matters” – “Every vote counts.” And while we 20-somethins, inherently understand these presumed realities, most of us don’t act on them.

Voting is more often associated with standing in a line on a cold winter morning, seeing a few smiling elderly volunteers, and spending a minute or two and filling in the bubbles (ACT flashbacks anyone?) or punching the chads (didn’t something happen in Florida with chads?). It’s hard to see the connection between the act of voting and its effect(s) on our country, on our lives.

Rather than assume that simply casting a vote makes people feel connected to the political process, let’s take a step back for a moment. I’m as politically engaged as anyone I know in their 20’s, and yet candidate’s stances on issues rarely drive me to get out my vote. Rather, in my case, it is the meta-understanding of the system, the actors, and what’s at stake. My contention about the 99 percent of people my age who don’t work in politics is simply that hearing a candidate’s stump speech or Daily Show soundbite about the federal deficit or a coalition government in Iraq, does not impassion them enough to take action.

Most of what candidates rhapsodize about on the campaign trail feels as familiar to youth (potential) voters, as an MTV that actually plays music videos. Candidates for major elected office have never fully engaged with youth voters, because, we don’t donate huge sums of money or vote at the same rates as older adults. This year 10Questions.com is going to help you change that.

10Questions.com is a concrete opportunity for anyone to ask the candidates running to represent about them whatever they want.

If you care about how well the candidates know about the district or state they’re running to represent, you can ask them about that. If you care about the candidates’ preferences when it comes to fast food, music, or foreign policy, those topics are all fair game too. Different issues move different people, and we want to move you. We want to give you the opportunity to engage the candidates. We want to give you yet another reason to roll out of bed early on November 2nd, and pull the lever of democracy.

This not hypothetical. It’s happening right now. Go to 10Questions.com, and start asking and voting on questions. Questions can be text or video. Votes can be up or down. On September 21st, we’ll submit the top 10 questions in each of the 46 competitive races we’re covering to the candidates running in it. This is your chance to get candidates on the record talking about what you tell them is most important to you.

So get ready to vote on November 2nd, and while you won’t be able to “vote early and vote often” as Richard Daley would have prescribed, you can definitely vote knowing that the candidates are listening (and answering) to you.

Human question mark photo by doberagi on Flickr.