Voting can be important, but it depends on what you vote for. Voter registration totals can reveal how important people think votes are. Not voting can affect the degree to which you like what your government is doing. Your vote doesn’t always mean your candidate or position will win, but not voting creates more opportunities for candidates or ideas you don’t support to win. The ability to vote is envied in many countries where people are not given a say in how a country is run.
The question of whether voting is important is difficult to answer. In principle, voters can make their voices heard through the act of voting. Depending on what you vote for, your vote may or may not matter. For example, a vote cast for a presidential candidate who has already essentially won an election may not matter as much as the votes cast earlier the day before a clear winner was determined. On the other hand, the votes can be so close that each vote can be of immense importance.
In the United States, in most cases, you need to be registered to vote. The only state where registration is not required is North Dakota. But voter registration totals can reveal a lot about how important people think votes are. Less than half of the eligible voting population is registered. In big elections like the general election for president, turnout even among registered voters can make a difference.
In 2004, for example, only about 85 percent of registered voters cast a vote, and the total votes represented only about half of the citizens who could have cast a vote. Given the close elections of 2000 and 2004, not voting clearly mattered. A few extra registered voters in each state could have changed the outcome of the election.
While we often think of voting in relation to big elections, there are many local, state, or state elections where voting actually matters. A proposed law, measure or tax can be rejected or approved directly through the voter. Not voting on such measures can affect the degree to which you like what your state or local government is doing. Another way a vote can matter is if you’re voting for government representatives, whether for your state or the federal government. Typically, you seek out those representatives who most closely share your views.
Of course, your vote doesn’t mean that a representative will always represent your views. That’s why you should continue to exercise your voting option, and contact representatives when they appear to be acting contrary to the positions you supported them for. You can also vote for other representatives when the current representative’s term expires, especially if you feel inadequately represented by an elected official.
Voting also doesn’t mean that your candidate or position will always win. But not voting means that you create more opportunities for candidates or positions you support to lose, and you create more chances for candidates or ideas you don’t support to win. This is probably the most important part of exercising your right to vote. When you don’t, you walk out of the whole political process and miss the opportunity to let your thoughts and opinions take over.
While this is not always the case, the ability to vote is envied in many countries where people are not given a say in how a country is run. They are victims of the decisions of a government, without ever having the opportunity to fully participate in them. This can sometimes create an extraordinary crisis, as when victims of the 2008 Myanmar cyclone saw ships carrying relief supplies from other countries turn back, condemning some of these people to death or extreme deprivation and starvation. It is therefore wise to consider whether you really want to give up the right to vote and let the government make all its decisions without regard to your opinion.
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