Our
view
Several
good reasons to vote
OK, so we have not been presented with the
best choices of who to vote for this Election
Day. Actually, the basic consensus is that
we have a choice between the lesser of two
evils.
Because of voters negative opinions toward
candidates running for governor, voter turnout
is expected to be low this Election Day.
In light of this widespread feeling of apathy,
the editorial staff of the On-line Forty-Niner
urges all of its readers to go out to the
polls today and exercise their right to
vote.
An endless array of excuses for not voting
can be offered up: “I lost my registration
card;” “I forgot to register;” “Nothing
on the ballot effects me;” “I am too busy;”
“my one vote will not change anything anyway;”
and “I do not know enough about who’s running”
are just several of the widely used excuses.
However, we have better reasons why you
should stop making excuses and just vote.
First, just because you do not like the
choice of governors you have been presented
with does not mean that voting is worthless.
There are many other important issues that
will be voted upon this Election Day and
many of them do have the potential to directly
effect every individual in one way or another.
You are not just voting for governor. If
you choose not to vote you are just throwing
your control away.
Furthermore, the number of college students
who do not vote is simply astounding. Of
all people, young people should be the most
concerned with voting. Young people have
the most to gain or lose in any election
because they have to live with the consequences
for the longest period of time.
The excuse, “I do not know enough about
who is running, or the issues,” is simply
dated. As college students, we have access
to all the information we could dream of
at our fingertips via the Internet. Do a
search on anything with the words ‘vote,’
‘election,’ or ‘proposition’ in it and you
are bound to be flooded with information.
The Voter’s Guide is even posted on the
Internet. It will take no more than 15 minutes
to get enough information to base a decision
on.
One of the most important reasons to vote
is to maintain your right to complain about
the government. If you do not vote, you
have no place criticizing or complaining
about the state of our country, or state,
because you did not do your part in trying
to make things better.
Too many people say, “My one vote will not
change anything.” Perhaps those people are
right. One vote may not change anything
nowadays but if all the people who believed
their one vote meant nothing decided to
vote on Election Day, those votes would
have the power to change something.
Whether it seems like it or not at this
point, it is important to vote. If you have
not registered, make it a point to do so
before the next election and you will have
one less excuse.
You have nothing to lose by voting but you
do have something to lose by not voting.
Exercise your right. You’ll get a neat little
sticker and you will be surprised by how
empowering it feels to vote.
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