Voting has been an American right since before the Civil War even happened, one of the major differences between the United States and other countries. Women also gained the right to vote in the early 1900s, allowing everyone who is noticed as an American citizen the right to vote. One question that generations of voters have asked is, “Why is voting so important and how does my vote matter?” Voting in recent years has become controversial with ideas and thoughts of the people’s vote even mattering or voter fraud. In a situation where so much can go wrong, why would a voter even wish to vote?
As a female presenting college student, I am not registered to vote. This mainly due to the fact that when I turned legal age to vote, COVID had ruined my plans of registering. I have been putting off registering to vote for a while because I do not want to involve myself in politics, more specifically political parties. Simply put, I just do not enjoy rallying behind a very rich old man who has never once experienced what it is like to be me or my neighbors. I have my views of controversial topics and cases closed. The main reason as to why I have not voted yet is the drastic emotion and action-reaction from both sides, a lot like a giant sports match that never really ends and splits people apart. This country was originally built to be a non-identifiable party against another; both nominees would state their opinions on whatever topic they needed and the people would vote.
My mother is a very different woman however, upon finding out I am not registered she was baffled and rambled on about how women should vote strictly for the fact that women fought and protested so long for voting rights. I do agree with her, women should vote because it is something we have only had for about 100 years or so, but where I disagree is what actually happens with voting and how it all works.
Before graduating high school, or before even leaving middle school, everyone had to learn all about the rights we the people have and where it is all written, basically like a citizenship test. During this unit in school, I remember covering the topic of how voting even works, which is not really the word of the people exactly. When people vote, their ballots get tallied up and the overall winner of the votes decides what the electoral college will be for each represented state, meaning some states will be red or blue and have varying numbers to them, depending on population.
My father is also not registered to vote. This is for the very reason that was stated above, he feels there is no impact that he has on the vote. He also has not registered because he does not want to participate in jury duty, however this does not count because one can still be summoned for jury duty, even when they are not registered.
I asked a person here on campus, who wishes to stay anonymous, about voting and why they do or do not vote. They had stated that they do vote, but they see it as their own sort of damage control, it was explained as they would feel awful if they did not vote, because then they could have had hope for their pick, ultimately allowing them to blame others if the opposing party was voted in. I agree with how they came up with this idea on voting, voting so you are not blaming yourself for not trying to make a difference in the world you live in.
Voting is a touchy subject for many people and lots of different people with different backgrounds have very strong and individualized ideas on how or why a person should vote. Voting, though not in the cards for me, can be very beneficial and independent for those who need such things.
