To Vote, or Not to Vote?
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Just yesterday, one of my best friends turned 18. A huge milestone for him — and just in time for one of the most anticipated and intense elections we’ve ever had. I keep asking myself whether or not he’s lucky to be eligible to vote. Having just turned 17 in July, voting for me is simply out of the question. However, I do question regularly whether or not I’d want to vote — whether I trust myself to vote.
In my eyes, voting is sort of a big deal. Sure, the action of voting consists of a few flipping of switches and pulling a lever, but we all know that it’s much more than that. People who vote should be informed, involved and interested in the election. In voting, we’re contributing to and helping to define the entire country’s future — every single aspect of it. Maybe it’s just because I know that I won’t be faced with the responsibility of voting that I don’t feel informed, involved or interested enough to do so, but if I did have the opportunity to pull that lever, I think I’d have a hard time doing it.
That’s not to say, though, that I don’t have enough trust in myself to make the “right” decision — it’s just that I haven’t really taken the time to explicitly sort out my opinions and beliefs. I’ve listened to peers and family all discuss different issues, and have agreed and disagreed with them, but I just wouldn’t feel ready enough to make such a big decision. Advertisements encourage everyone of age to go out and vote; if someone doesn’t feel able or comfortable making such a decision, should he or she be forced into it? Then, the vote cast is representative of an individual whose interests were not the betterment of the country’s, but rather, simply getting it over with.
To cast a vote is an important responsibility, and every person who does so should be very aware of the issues at hand. Some might say that their vote doesn’t really matter when there are so many other people out there voting. But, what would happen if everyone had that mentality? It’d certainly be difficult, then, to elect a new president.
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I can certainly relate to the feeling of not being informed because no matter what, the option isn’t available to you. For the past year or so, I havn’t made it my buisness to find out all the details and to actually pick a side. I always tell people that I don’t feel informed enough to make an educated decision.
I did however, watch the debate this past week and feel more comfortable that I could side with one candidate on account of overall relatablity but i still don’t know all the details of his policies xD.