I was born Nov. 9, 1998. Some people in the world may share may birthday but may not share the pain I have to endure because of it. Check a calendar. Any calendar you may have in your home, office or wherever you may be at the moment. Do you see the the day before Nov. 9, 2016? It will most likely say “Election Day.”

Well, guess what? My 18th birthday is a day after election day, which is the last day to vote in what may be the most important presidential election in U.S. history.

Yeah, it sucks.

If you’ve been keeping up with the presidential election, you know that it is currently Hillary Clinton versus Donald Trump (or at the rate that he’s going, Donald Trump versus himself). Not being able to vote is like not being able to extinguish the fire that’s slowly, and eventually, going to swallow you whole. Like I’ve always been told, every vote counts, and I must always exercise this right. My ancestors fought for this right, and I intend to use it. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to for this election.

Jabari, 17, attends DeKalb School of the Arts. 

What would you say to the U.S. Presidential candidates if you could?

Want to share your point of view about the election? Email your letter, poem, video or story to media@voxatl.org.

VOX will be sharing teens’ voices related to the U.S. election daily through election day, Nov. 8.  Share yours!