Why Should I Vote? The words “to vote” are merely defined as “to participate in an election” but in my opinion, these words have a much greater significance. I feel that by voting, I exercise one of my most important civil rights – the right to vote, which is the essential element in keeping our democracy alive. Most of our ancestors came to this country to escape monarchs, dictators and corrupt governments. It would be only natural to assume that each and every citizen of America would grab the opportunity to vote and elect a leader of his or her own choice.
However, it is disappointing to note the number of people who are turning away from their duty to vote, today. The 1996 elections saw Bill Clinton become the President of the United States with only 12% of all the eligible voters voting for him. This disturbingly large proportion of non-voters is more prevalent among the younger people. Their voting rate is extremely low: less than 20% of those aged 18 to 22 voted in the Presidential election in 1996. What’s wrong here? These are the same young people who are volunteering for community service activities at record levels, so the reason for their indifference cannot be a lack of concern for their society. Nevertheless, they are refraining from voting on issues that they do care about.
The Essay on Voting Election System
... voting, the Voting Election System with Barcode was proposed. In this kind of manual voting process the constrain, were the counting of votes and after elections, ... way due to the new technological processes that was use. People utilized standardized transactions because of its fast, handy way process, ...
The dominating reason behind their reluctance to vote is the fact that candidates pay little attention to young adults because historically, these age groups desist from voting and young adults do not vote because they feel ignored by the candidates. I strongly feel that the future of a healthy American democracy depends on ending this vicious cycle. Another reason for this waning trend is that some young adults believe that their votes do not count as much as the votes of older, wealthier people. They feel that they are seen to be less influential as compared to older voters. This assumption reinforces their belief that they do not have a voice in the political process. This is where the young adults perceive the situation erroneously.
Presently, the elderly decide politics because they are the ones who vigorously vote. If today, all the young adults were to vote, they would dramatically change the outcome of politics. It is this belief that we must strive to inculcate in the younger adult population. Furthermore, some young adults feel that voting is a duty that comes later in life, along with other responsibilities, such as family and a career. Once they reach that stage in their lives, these young adults feel that they will be more likely to participate in politics.
Others believe that they are not sufficiently informed to vote and that they do not have the time to search for information on issues as well as candidates. On the contrary, in this day and age, it is even easier to be well informed about our choices. Never in our history has so much information been readily available – television news, the Internet, radio, voting guides and newspapers. There are numerous reasons why other people in general do not vote.
They feel that their vote does not have any impact, and they are even more skeptical about the changes that can be brought about by voting. They see problems like violence and education as so pervasive that they feel it will take years for politicians to fix them, if they can fix them at all. This is a very wrong notion that is inculcated in our common citizens. In fact, as time has progressed, crime-rates have decreased and test scores are improving.
New York City is a prime example of this development. For years, the city has laid waste to graffiti, litter and crime. New Yorkers had enough and elected Mayor Guiliani who changed the entire outlook of the city. Throughout the country, areas other than violence and education have also seen a great deal of improvement. After all, if we as a people speak up in large numbers then the politicians have no option but to listen and remedy the situations.
The Essay on Young Adults and Alcohol
The drinking age in the United States is a contradiction. At the age of eighteen, one can drive a car, vote in an election, get married, serve in the military and buy tobacco products. In the United States you are legally an adult at eighteen. An eighteen-year-old, however, can not purchase alcoholic beverages. The minimum drinking age should be lowered from twenty-one in the United States. ...
Yet another group of people have written off candidates as unscrupulous in making false promises and rarely genuinely concerned about the welfare of the people. Also, they refuse to vote as a protest against the quality of candidates and the way in which campaigns are conducted and financed. They feel that they would rather not vote than vote for someone who they do not respect. I believe that even if we feel that the citizens standing for election are unworthy candidates, we must still vote, at least for the lesser of the two evils. In doing so, we can do our part to move things in the right direction as in one or two election cycles, we will probably succeed in disengaging the candidates whom we consider to be unworthy.
Also, by not voting, we are giving our tacit consent to the elected candidate. In this way, not only are we losing our say in the election, but also our actions are portraying the wrong message that we are supportive of the elected candidate, however unworthy he might be. Additionally, research has shown that people are also put off by the role money plays in politics. Politicians spend each dollar that they can afford in campaigning. Hence, those who spend more are the ones who are more successful in elections as they can spread their respective message to a wider audience.
However, there does exist a solution to this problem. If each eligible voter does not blindly believe in what he or she hears, and instead, does research on the candidates, money would no longer influence elections; each candidate would have an equal opportunity to win, irrespective of the latter’s financial status. Whatever the extent to which the reasons that refrain us from voting may hold true, I continue to believe that it is essential for every one of us to vote. No single reason is justifiable enough to do otherwise! Each individual’s vote counts; after all, every tiny drop plays an equally important part in forming an ocean.
Most elections are won or lost by a small portion of the overall voting public, and an even smaller portion of the general population. For instance, Congressman Neumann won his 1994 election by 1, 120 votes (a margin of only 0. 5 % of the people who voted in his race).
The Term Paper on Electoral College Reform Vote Election Votes
... resulted in the popular candidate losing to his opponent. The Electoral College cast the final vote in that election. The people who went out ... individual citizen of that particular government shall have his or her own vote cast in favor of the candidate he or she chooses. "Voting ...
This year’s election has also exemplified the importance of voting. Governor Bush and Vice-President Gore are equally likely to win the prestigious position of President. A handful of votes distributed differently could alter the outcome and hence also change America dramatically for at least the next four years.
After all, the people who we vote for are the ones who will be making many of the decisions that affect us. For instance, we vote for the President. He nominates the judges of the Supreme Court who make decisions on issues that affect the very essence of our social well-being. Also, the President’s responses to several issues may affect our quality of life, tax rate or even our life span. Therefore by not voting, we are giving up the most basic right of a citizen, to have a say in how we are governed. As I have shown, there may be many reasons as to why common citizens refrain from voting.
However, there are counters for each and every one of these reasons. It is time that we stopped looking for excuses not to vote and instead, focused on the benefits that voting has to offer. If each citizen begins to feel that his or her vote is insignificant in the election process, voting may come to an end. As a consequence, we may even begin to evolve backwards and regress into the world in which the elite few were the only ones who had a say in society!
