In 2004, I was a few months shy of being able to vote and I was sincerely disappointed. She, however, thought it was hilarious and still thinks I’m insane for being so enthusiastic about going to the polls. She also laughs at me for insisting on watching CNN with my morning coffee, but that’s another story.

Since January, I’ve been sending e-mails and text messages asking my sister if she’s registered to vote yet. “This is an important election,” I tell her. “You should be excited!” Her usual reply is that she hasn’t had time or just forgets when she sits down at her computer. Understandable, I suppose.

She’s also given me plenty of reasons why she doesn’t even want to vote. Most of her reasons are common excuses among people in our age group for not getting out to vote. Not knowing or caring about politics, feeling like your vote doesn’t matter, thinking it doesn’t make a difference who runs the country, or simply not having time to vote are all factors that can crush someone’s desire to even make an effort. To me though, none of these reasons seem valid.

If you tell me you don’t care about politics, I can relate. Until I started carving out my place in the world of journalism, I despised politics. But can you blame me? I started watching the news right around the time former President Bill Clinton was trying to define the word “is.” It’s safe to say I didn’t totally understand what was going on with the president and Monica Lewinsky at the age of 10 or 11 but it wasn’t exactly a good introduction to all things White House. It can be hard to care about politics when the politicians themselves seem so morally bankrupt.

Not knowing anything about politics or the candidates is another issue entirely. Our generation should be the most informed of all when it comes to learning the backstory of the men and women running for the presidency. We are a group of people that know exactly how to pirate music, edit Wikipedia.org, maintain our own blogs and thoroughly enjoy the comedic misadventures offered by YouTube.com. Finding out about the voting records of Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama, for example, is just as simple.

Web sites like Glassbooth.org allow you to look into the voting records of anyone running for any office. By clicking “Explore Candidates,” you can choose which candidate you want to learn more about and click through a list of important issues, like stem cell research or gay rights, to see how that candidate has voted on legislation. You can also read public statements candidates have made about those issues.

It’s like stalking former classmates on Facebook.com but much more educational and, in most cases, much less emotionally scarring.

Every vote is crucial. The most obvious example in recent memory is the infamous recount of the 2000 presidential election. We all know what happened: Things got crazy in Florida, the electoral college went haywire and here we are, eight years later, with a president who did not win the popular vote.

I’d be willing to bet there were some guilt-ridden Floridians wishing they had gone out to vote that fateful November evening when the whole country started pointing their fingers towards the Sunshine State. I’d also be willing to bet that the number of people who were unregistered or were just too lazy to get up and go to the polls that day could have been the difference between smooth sailing and crazy controversy.

In other words, your vote does make a difference. Do I really have to argue that who you elect makes a difference, too?

Applying for an absentee ballot can be a lifesaver for any college student who thinks they won’t be able to make it home to vote in their home district. Michigan.gov can provide you with everything you need to apply. Obviously you will have to send it in before November 4 for it to be counted, but don’t think of it as a hassle — think of yourself as some fancy early adopter that’s ahead of the voting curve.

I haven’t given up on getting my sister to the polls because this election could change a lot for the better for our country. Clearly, there’s no excuse not to vote.

Whitney Gronski is the State News opinion editor. Reach her at gronskiw@msu.edu .