Why_Voting_Matters

Even though there are estimated to be over a hundred and fifty million eligible voters in the United States, it is projected that in the upcoming Presidential election, ninety million voters will choose to not partake in voting. That is over half of the eligible voters opting out of their privilege of voting, a privilege that several other countries do not even have. I feel that every eligible voter should take advantage of the ability to vote, but only if they are informed on the important information of the election. There are approximately 72 countries in the world that partake in democratic elections. Out of the estimated 196 countries in the world, that is only 36% of the world has the privilege of voting. So why, in a country with complete freedom of voting for anyone over the age of eighteen, do over half of the eligible voters choose to not vote' The excuse that one vote does not make a difference, is often used to explain the actions of people who choose not to vote. I feel that this is an untrue statement however, because every single vote casted in an election does indeed make a difference. In our country’s past, there have been several presidential elections that have been extremely close. For example, in the presidential election of 2000 candidate Al Gore barely lost the election to George W. Bush. A lot of people had a problem with the way that Bush ran the country, but if they had voted for Gore, he probably would have won. If at least some of the people who did not vote because they thought it would not make a difference would have chosen cast a vote in those elections, the outcome might have been different. A person should take advantage of their privilege to vote, especially if their only excuse is that one vote will not make a difference. With an estimated ninety-million voters in the United States that will choose not to vote in the upcoming presidential election, the winning candidate will not truly embody the choice of America. When our country was founded, the idea of democratic elections was set up to allow the citizens of the country to choose their leaders. If less than half of the eligible voters take advantage of their privilege, then the election winner will not be a fair representation of American’s true choice. The people who do not vote, and have their choice of candidate lose, tend to go on and complain about how our country is being run for the next four years. If you do not vote in the election, then I do not feel that you have any right to complain about how the country is being run. This is one of the reasons that I feel that voting is an important part of being an American Citizen, and that everyone should take part in it. I feel that although voting is an important part of being an American Citizen, if the voter is not informed on the issues and topics of the election, they should not cast a vote. As a newly eligible voter, I am not aware of all of the issues in this upcoming presidential election, nor will they all affect me in this current phase of my life. People, like me, who are uninformed on the issues of the election should either inform themselves before they vote, or choose not to vote. I plan to educate myself on the issues of the election, before casting my vote in November. If a person does not know about all of the facts of an election, they will not make a properly educated choice on who to vote for. Many people tend to base their choices on who to vote for on the opinions of their friends and family. This is not the best way to choose which candidate to vote for. Each person casting a vote is an individual and should have their own thoughts and ideas on the election topics. An unaware voter who makes no effort to educate themselves on the issues of the elections should not take part in voting in this upcoming presidential election. Every eligible voter should take advantage of the ability to vote, but only if they are informed on the important issues of the election. I feel that a lot of the 90 million voters who choose not to vote should reconsider that decision because they can definitely make a difference in the outcome of the election, and also gain the sense of accomplish in helping to make the decision of who is going to be leading your country for the next four years.