JUDY WOODRUFF: Both
presidential candidates agree

this is the most important
election in modern history.

But in most recent elections,
about four in 10 eligible
voters stayed home.

We talked to a few of
the people who are not
voting this time around.

CLIFFORD GENECE, Not
Voting in 2020: My name is
Clifford Genece. I'm from

Brooklyn, New York, currently
residing in Denver, Colorado.

ELLIE PANA, Not Voting in
2020: Hi. I'm Ellie Pana.

I am a Greek American
dual citizen born and
raised in America, but
living in Greece now.

RODGER WEIR, Not Voting in
2020: My name is Rodger Weir.

MARYAM ALANIZ, Not Voting in
2020: My name is Maryam Alaniz.
I'm not voting in this election.

ELLIE PANA: I would
have never thought that
I would not be voting

or would even consider not
voting. I never - - like, I
have always -- like, it's my

civic duty or it's my
patriotic duty or even my
desire. Like, I want to do it.

CLIFFORD GENECE: This year is
the first year where I just
don't feel like -- I don't feel

represented or heard.

RODGER WEIR: I'm not voting
because no one has earned it.
No one has earned my vote. If

I can't have a candidate
that I feel is going to
actually represent me,
then why should I vote?

CLIFFORD GENECE: I don't
feel like anyone is doing
anything that's really going to

create change and kind of
bring us back to a place
where we're not having

these continual tensions
and issues that we have
been having for centuries.

MARYAM ALANIZ: If there was
a candidate that spoke to my
concerns, spoke to my interests,

shared my politics, Then
maybe I would consider voting.

ELLIE PANA: Because I am
overseas and I waited too
late in the game for an
absentee ballot, then it's

like, OK, should I get on
a plane, fly to New York
for a couple days, cast
my ballot, and then come

back? And because neither
candidate inspires me that
much, I'm like, I will
just sit this one out.

RODGER WEIR: If we live
in the land of the free,
the home of the brave,

and we have freedom to
choose, then give me that
freedom, give me the choice,

instead of just giving me
these two steaming piles of
waste on which to decide from.

MARYAM ALANIZ: This past year,
there -- it's been a really,

really volatile year.
A lot of countries are
facing political crises.

And, really, it's a lot of
young people like myself who are
really, really dissatisfied and

are realizing that, like,
voting is not the only way
to make our voices heard.

If we want to actually
organize ourselves, like, we
shouldn't cede electoralism
as our only option.

We should be empowered
to go to the streets.

CLIFFORD GENECE: I understand
that there is power and there
is a necessity in voting.

But if I know that
voting has no impact on
what I want for change,

then it isn't an altruistic
act. It's just - - it's just
doing it, again, just to do it.

I think not voting and not
participating sends more of
a message to leaders that

we're not happy. We're not
happy with what's going on.