In the 1988 presidential election between George Bush and Michael Dukakis, 91,602,291 American people showed up to vote. Now that seems like a lot of people, but what you don’t realize is the 91,050,000 registered voters did not vote in that election. This 50. 15% voter turnout was the lowest in sixty-four years, falling nearly 20% short of voter turnout in most all other industrialized countries. Many people argue that this low turnout is due to voter’s lack of concern.
Many Americans claim that VOTING is useless because they cannot change the government. On the other hand millions of other voters disagree and prove it by voting every election, whether it be national or local. They do this because they truly believe that their vote does count. There are four reasons that a person should vote.
One, voting is what a democracy is all about. Two, The entire system would collapse if no one voted. Three, voting is the only way you can be sure that your voice will be heard. And four, voting is simply important in itself. If Americans do not like the system or their politicians, they only have themselves to blame. The people are the government in a democracy and voting is the foundation of the American Democracy.
Voters can elect leaders, recall officials, cut taxes, raise money, and basically tell the government how to run the country. That kind of voting is the most important tool for private citizens to influence the government and town officials. Voting is also the most effective tool for social change, but instead of taking the responsibility of voting many people stay home and insist that their vote won’t count anyway. When change does not happen those are the people that have the problem and only complain and it is because they are simply lazy. So, I encourage you to stop complaining long enough to get out and vote if you don’t like the way our government is being run.
Voting is how decisions get made. One vote may not seem like much in an election with millions of voters, but it can make a difference between winning and losing. If you still think voting doesn’t matter, then why did so many disadvantaged groups in America work so hard to obtain it? They know it is important because they fought long and hard for the right. Women struggled for decades before they finally gained voting rights in 1920.
African Americans were allowed to vote after the Civil War, but many states took that right away from them. In the late 1950’s and early 1960’s they gained that freedom to vote back. These groups prove that voting is a valuable tool. No vote means no representation, and they show that this is true. In forty-six states prior to 1971 the minimum voting age was twenty-one, but the 1970 Act of Congress set the minimum age in all states to eighteen. I turned eighteen in August of this year and when I went to get my license renewed I also registered to vote.
When the word voting came to my attention I thought only about the big elections such as the presidential election in November. But recently we started a local election for the city, as most of you know the election I am talking about is the bond election. My father and mother both voted and asked me if I was going to vote. My first response was “no way! Why would I vote for that, it has nothing to do with me?” But they brought to my attention that I am now a legal adult in this city and my vote does count. It may not concern me, but the results of this election will affect how my little brother and sister have to go to high school.
After realizing this, I went and voted for my first city election. I felt a little awkward in there, but I also felt good about myself. Voting made me feel like I was responsible and mature enough to make a decision that will affect our city. I was proud to say that I had voted and contributed my voice in society.
