But life has a way of getting in the way of those best-laid plans. What if you marry a young man or young woman whose family lives nearby? What if that internship in your college town turns out to be a ticket to your first job out of college?

All of a sudden you're not passing through, you're a resident — the same resident who didn't happen to think that property tax questions or open-space initiatives didn't apply to you. Or you're the resident stuck with a lousy bunch of representatives for two to six years — depending upon the elected position — that you had no hand in picking.

Should young people vote for the sake of voting? When I was a college freshman living away from home the first time I was woefully unprepared to vote, aside from the presidential race. But I voted anyway because all the years of watching my mother and father go to the polls had impressed upon me that it is important to exercise the right. I haven't missed an election since.

If young people are uncomfortable with the notion of not being prepared to vote, they can take some solace in knowing that some longtime voters turn out not knowing the issues well, either. Then again, there's ample access to information if people would just bother to take the time. Even a cursory reading of the Voter Information Pamphlet is better than being led by the nose by campaign advertising.

But give the older voters their due. They show up to the polls. And so should young people, because they're not always going to be young people. Sooner or later they'll have careers, family responsibilities and will own homes. All of a sudden, those property tax hikes, controversies over school curricula and decisions whether to allow big-box retailers into one's community aren't going to be somebody else's concern. They're your quality-of-life issues. They're why you should take the time to vote.

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Marjorie Cortez, who will wear the "I voted" sticker given to her at the polls Nov. 6 until if falls off her office pass, is a Deseret Morning News editorial writer.