by M. L. Larzelere

Created on: July 16, 2008   Last Updated: September 11, 2011

Why People Should Vote

Two hundred twenty-five years and counting; one person, one vote, and yes as true as that was when it was first written into the Constitution, it is still true today. Our vote does count. While in many ways our government has become a puppet of the few, it still must hold allegiances to the masses, and voting assures us of this allegiance.

Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain and every other candidate down to John Adams campaigned for the people's vote. I am most sure, even though it is not safe to assume, that people have had this attitude of why should I vote, my vote won't matter anyway since the first election back in 1791. It has been said not voting is like a yes vote for the opponent. Why is not voting like a yes vote for the opponent? To put this in the smallest context; if three people are voting for a candidate, say candidate A or candidate B and one of the voters is you, you want candidate B, but you do not vote. Your "none vote" leaves a tie. The next person voting votes for your opponent candidate A and your candidates loses. By not voting you are denying the person you favor a chance to succeed. Everybody who votes for their favored candidate at least assures that candidate a chance to win.

I cannot imagine how different these United States may have been if all those people who said, "No, I didn't vote. Why should I vote? It doesn't mean anything anyway," had put their convictions up front and voted instead of letting their minds play games with them. However, it is not difficult to understand why this attitude of my vote does not matter is so prevalent. The one person one vote is so crucial to candidates running for an office that they may very well buy or steal votes. Some evidence shows this may be true in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. And votes like these stacked against the honest voter should make the reluctant voter that much more determined to get out and vote.

Another reason people may not vote is they may be confused about who to vote for. They may belong to a union, church, or other organization that have dichotomous views. It is hard to think positively about how to vote when political action committees, churches, lobbyist, and large organizations such as AARP, NEA, Teamsters, and religious groups are sending out materials trying to persuade the voter toward one particular candidate based on one particular issue. In all my years of voting for a presidential candidate I have never totally agreed

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