As an American, the 2016 presidential election is definitely something that is on my mind. As a 16-year-old, however, there is obviously less pressure since I won’t be able to vote.

Regardless of the fact that I can’t vote in this election, I still feel strongly that voting isn’t just a right that Americans have but that it’s a responsibility. If people are capable of doing so, they need to go out and vote for something as important as the next President of the United States.

At the same time, I know that many Americans are incredibly busy. People work full time or have children to care for and realistically can’t both go to their local registration and actual polling day. Because of this, many people find themselves in a cycle of eligible voters being too busy to register and therefore not being able to vote.

This cycle is exactly where an idea like HelloVote comes in. HelloVote is a new texting service that allows Americans to vote by simply texting the words “Hello Vote” to the number 384-387 but state registration deadlines still apply. Missouri voting registration deadline is Oct. 12 and Kansas voting registration deadline is Oct. 18. 

According to the HelloVote website, the entire registration process is designed to take no longer than 90 seconds to complete. This means citizens can exercise their democratic rights from the comfort of, well, anywhere they are. If the voters take 90 seconds to conveniently register themselves from wherever they are, they become obligated to actually vote, but then are only required to go to their local poll once.

61 million Americans who were eligible to vote did not vote during the 2012 presidential election cycle according to CNN. 92 percent of adult Americans own a cell phone according to CNN. Because of these statistics, a service like HelloVote in this election only seems to make sense- registering to vote by texting brings democracy into the twenty first century. Now gone are the days of having to schedule time to get off of work or finding a babysitter so that one can register to vote. A few simple keys pressed on a smartphone will get the job done.

Without having taken an American government class, it’s a no-brainer that democracy works best when the citizens of the country participate in voting. Giving people the convenience of registering to vote by texting will likely promote the voter participation the United States desperately needs. So if you’re 18 and you haven’t registered text “HelloVote” to register before state deadlines.