Of all of our freedoms, the right to vote is perhaps the most important one. However, not all citizens do it; most stay home and watch television. For many reasons, they do not bother to vote, preferring instead to let others decide for them how their futures will unfold. They shirk their responsibility as United States citizens.
In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 2.85 million people were eligible to vote in 1994. Of those, only 43% actually cast a ballot, which means nearly two-thirds of the eligible voters did not vote. Therefore, the victors in those elections represented only 22% of the eligible voters. In such an environment, to win and hold office, candidates need only cater to a small segment of the population.
Why should this be? People offer a variety of reasons for ducking this chore, yet all of them amount to excuses. Still, those who refuse their duty feel no restriction on their right to complain. They will not voice their opinions when it matters, but they feel entitled to express them at all other times.
Among the excuses: It takes too much time; they are too busy. Keeping informed on issues of politics requires time and effort. Keeping track of the politicians and their respective platforms is tedious. An individual’s vote does not affect an election. Such are the most common reasons given for not voting.
Thus each of our votes does count, precisely because we have a system – the Electoral College – in which a candidate must do more than accumulate the most runs, or votes; she must win the most games, or states. So the entire argument, that individual votes do not count, is just plain false.
Of course, neglecting to vote does not stop people from complaining about laws, politics, politicians, taxes, wages, social problems......
