EDITORIAL: Why your vote matters
Millions of Americans will go to their polling locations to cast their ballots today.
But today may also be a reminder of something worse. The U.S.'s poor voter turnout.
Despite being one of the oldest democracies in the world, our voter turnout rate lags behind many of our global peers.
There are certain reasons why this could be occurring. Long lines, confusing procedures and narrow early voting periods can all play a role in reducing voter turnout.
But one of the most interesting reasons is voter apathy.
It makes sense. For people who have lived through both Democratic and Republican administrations and seen little material change in their lives, it seems that voting does not make much of a tangible difference.
Voting for a third party or independent candidate seems absolutely unthinkable since the deck is so stacked against them that you might as well be throwing away your vote.
Others think that their one, singular vote does not matter. It seems like the results are already in before the election even begins, especially in a blue state like New Jersey, which has given its electoral votes to the Democratic candidate since 1992, and with Rutgers being in New Jersey's blue sixth district.
With seemingly few good options and little change possible, it is easy just to sit the election out and glumly accept the winner.
But this is the wrong mindset to have, and you should still vote.
For those who say that one vote will not change an election, you would be surprised to see that this has actually happened multiple times.
For instance, in the 1824 Presidential election, since Democrat Andrew Jackson did not have enough electoral votes to win, the House of Representatives voted on who would become the president.
The winner, former President John Quincy Adams, was able to secure the presidency by one vote.
Looking to a more recent example, in the 2018 Kentucky House of Representatives election for District 13, Democrat Jim Glenn defeated now-seated Rep. DJ Johnson (R-13) by one vote.
So, the point that your one vote does not matter is false. Your one vote can easily shape who you will be represented by.
Voting is the best way to hold politicians accountable for their comments and actions. Even though Americans love to complain about our politicians not doing their jobs, by not voting, we fail to hold them accountable.
The role of a politician is unique in that they have a more direct responsibility to ordinary citizens than nearly any other job out there. If we do not like how they act, we have the collective power to fire them.
And it is possible to topple even the most senior incumbents. For example, in the 2018 midterm elections, a 29-year-old bartender from the Bronx, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, was able to topple the fourth most powerful Democrat in the House of Representatives.
Ocasio-Cortez did this by using grassroots mobilizing efforts to get people out to vote.
Furthermore, this election is not just about Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald J. Trump. It is about way more than that.
When voting for the president, you also vote for their administration and indirectly on other parts of the government. You may not like Harris or Trump, but you might have certain views regarding the Supreme Court, the decisions the Federal Reserve makes and how the U.S. should conduct foreign policy. Given that the president greatly influences the decisions made at the national level, it is important to vote if you want to have a say in these decisions.
It is also not just the federal government being voted on in this election. Local and state-level elections are happening, and while under-reported by national media, they are incredibly important.
These local elections have a far bigger impact on one's day-to-day life than who gets to live in the White House for four years. Local officials determine policy on important topics such as education, healthcare and local infrastructure.
We have seen how local and state policy can play a role in whether one has access to certain books in the classroom, whether a woman has access to an abortion and what voting procedures one has to go through.
Furthermore, if you want third parties to have a viable chance at getting power and control, local elections can do that. Since local campaigns are cheaper than state or national campaigns, they can be a great way to get third-party politicians into power.
When they can get into power, their ideas can be tested on a small scale and, if successful, can be expanded by either election to higher office or appointment to a governor’s cabinet.
Building third-party politicians with experience can help them get more votes and support for their campaigns.
It can be easy to be pessimistic about the state of democracy in the U.S. With this pessimism, it can be easy just to sit out the election. But voting matters. Politicians' impact on you does not change just because you do not vote.
Do your research, make a plan and vote!
The Daily Targum's editorials represent the views of the majority of the 156th editorial board. Columns, cartoons and letters do not necessarily reflect the views of the Targum Publishing Company or its staff.
