Hallo everyone! We are here for a change and the only way that people can make a change in the society is when they can make their voices to be heard by those in authority. It can be done in very many ways among them being a call for action and taking part in elections. Particularly, the essence of being a democratic society lies in the ability to exercise one’s right to vote. To this end, it is significant that the citizens of any democratic society realize the value of exercising their democratic rights by taking part in elections. It is an occasion during which people can voice their opinions as to the kinds of leaders that they would like to be in authority and their expectations about the society while they are in charge. To do this, the government ought to teach the value of such forums to the citizens by allocating time for them to exercise these democratic rights.
Abraham Lincoln said that a ballot was much stronger than a bullet. He knew exactly what a single vote could do to the entire society. A single vote is very important to an extent that even those who do not have the ability or opportunity to vote have to be presented with such opportunities so that they can exercise their democratic rights. He meant that as a community, we do not need a revolution or a civil war to change our government. We only need to vote. Through one vote that then speaks about the entire community, we can be heard. Most importantly, the ability to exercise our democratic rights by casting our votes is one of the founding principles of the American society. We need to vote. You need to vote.
Despite the need to cast our votes in great numbers, most of the Americans do not vote during elections. Persons need to be specified a motive to vote, and this can only happen if there are incentives that encourage people to go voting when the occasion arises. It can only be possible if we make the voting day a national holiday and also come up with rewards for those who take part in the elections. Look at the bigger picture of voting by imagining a situation whereby Voting Day is made to be a great American Holiday such as July 4th. We all need to take part in this and to begin with; people should contact the congressional representative about making the voting day to become a holiday. It will encourage people to create time so that they can go and cast their votes.
These are many of the explanations as to why you should see the urgency to take part in elections by casting your votes. From a general point of view as mentioned early before, not many Americans take part in elections. According to statistics, among the nations that have held at least a single election since 1945, the United States is ranked in the 120th position in voter turnout at 66.5%. In the midterm elections such as the one held on Tuesday, approximately 40% turned up for the voting exercise. It is not even half of the population. Further, the young Americans are the worst as far as voter turnout is concerned. This is the situation with regards to this: only 38% of the Americans between 18-24 years voted in 2012 and in 2010, the same category of people accounted for only 21% of the voters who voted. We need to change these facts, and this can only begin with a critical evaluation of the reasons as to why the Americans do not vote.
According to the statistics that were established with regards to the reasons for not voting in 2008 were: being too busy (17.5%), being sick (14.9%), not being interested (13.4%) and not liking the candidates (12.9%). For the young Americans who do not take part in the voting exercise normally give their reasons for no liking the candidates or not being interested in taking in voting. A critical evaluation of these young people also revealed the following facts: only half of our generation identifies with a party, and this is a record that has never been witnessed ever before. Further, the majority of these young people claim that they are fiscally conservative, and they are socially liberal. As such, this makes it hard for them to find a suitable candidate during the elections. Most importantly, young people’s preference not to vote is because they do not trust the government at all.
People should realize that they need to vote for the following reasons. It is your right to vote as quoted in the FDR. It is right that the country is founded on. Women were not allowed to vote up until 1920, and the African Americans officially got their suffrage in 1870 although they still fight against voter suppression. We have a long history with exercising our voting rights, and we need to take advantage of the opportunity.
The second main reason as to why people should vote is based on the fact that it gives voters the opportunity of changing what they do not like about their government. The US is a representative democracy and not a direct democracy. Hence, people have to put a person in charge. Through elections, legislations can be passed as seen in the case of Marijuana in Florida when 73% of the 18-24 Floridians did not vote on Tuesday.
Again, your vote counts a great deal. As was seen in 2000, the candidate that wins the popular vote does not win the election. That was the fourth time ever that the eventual President did not win a popularity in the popular vote. From another perspective, the Electoral College technically elects the President but in reality they will listen to you. It implies that there is no national election for the President, but only separate state elections to determine the slate of electors who vote for a candidate. The electors are not also bound legally to vote for the candidate that won the state’s popular election although there have been six faithless electors since 1990.
As we have seen, we need to increase the voter turnout on a national scale. Some people may be of the idea of making voting a mandatory exercise, and this may not work. The solution lies in making the voting day a national holiday. It is based on the following tenets:
Elections take place the Tuesday after the very first Monday in November; Many Americans eligible to have school or work on Tuesdays
i) Many other countries like India and Austria have made Election Day a holiday
ii) We could combine it with Veterans Day and have a celebration of democracy every two years.
iii) Would eliminate the reason 30 % of nonvoters have for not voting.
Suppose we take all these aforementioned factors into consideration, people will always join hands when making decisions that affect the entire society. There will be increased transparency in government affairs since people will demand more accountability from the people they put in office. How would it feel when the citizens are directly involved in making decisions concerning the security of the nation or developmental factors? Similarly, how does it feel when people are not allowed to directly take part in making electoral decisions? We all need to take part and it starts by being a personal responsibility. Definitely, being part of the decision making process starts when we realize the value of our votes and start being part of the decision process.
We all need to take part in the exercise by being part and parcel of the process. To do this, we ought to get out first and pressure our friends to take part in the election process. Get the people realize the value of taking part in the election process by casting their votes. Also, research and understand the key issues that you are voting on. Contact your respective congress about making the voting day a holiday. They will attend to what you need to say. We all need a society in which we feel equally important, and this begins when we decide to take part in the process. It is our opportunity to make a change and let us work as a unit, driven by the need to see the change we want.
