WATCH: Samer Ghani Didn’t Vote Until Recently. Here’s Why He’s Pleading With You to Vote Now.

This Milwaukee photographer and videographer talks about the high stakes of the November election.

This article is part of COURIER’s Your Vote 2020 hub. For more stories from each of the battleground states, along with national reporting, visit the site here.

Growing up, Samer Ghani, a Milwaukee photographer and videographer, didn’t see the point in voting.

“Why participate in a broken system?” Ghani said. “Will the effects of either party even trickle down to me?”

Even when Barack Obama was elected president, Ghani, a first-generation American, was disillusioned with the country’s politics as he watched social injustice continue to spread. He’s not alone. Young voters have historically had low turnout. In 2016, just 43 percent of voters age 18-20 voted, according to Duke University’s Duke Today magazine.

But as Ghani witnessed the political, economic, and social turmoil of the last few years unfold, he began voting. 

“I understand the feeling [that voting doesn’t make a difference],” Ghani said. “But I urge you and I plead you to please educate, and to please vote, because this election could change the course of history for the rest of our lives.”