Some say that voting is a complete waste of time. "My vote doesn't count," or "The elections are rigged anyway," are the common excuses that are most often said by those who don't bother to cast their vote. There are some who think that they as an individual are only worth one vote amongst millions, so why bother. People need to stop being so ego-centric and start looking at the bigger picture. What happens when nearly every single citizen decides their "one vote" won't make a difference. Before you know it, there are hundreds and thousands of people who have separately and collectively decided that their votes won't make a difference.
Then there are those who say their votes don't count because the electoral college decides who becomes president. Those same people have probably never bothered to do any research on the electoral college. Yes, it's true that the NATION-WIDE vote does not determine who becomes president; however, the state-wide votes do. 48 out of the 50 states have electoral officers that automatically vote for the candidate that won the popularity vote in their respective state.
It's sad that we live in a society where every legal adult citizen has the ability to vote for the candidate of his or her choice, yet there are still those who choose not to exercise that ability. There are others in foreign countries who would die, and have died, for those kinds of freedoms yet still are not granted the right to vote. Voting here in the United States is a freedom taken all too lightly, one which others who are less fortunate have still not been granted. It is a basic "right" that Americans are granted, yet one which is barely taken advantage of by a majority of the population. I use the term "right", when associated with voting, very lightly. Voting is not so much a right as it is a privilege. One that was fought over to the death by those that came before us.
These are troubling times, not only for the United States, but for the rest of the world. It is a time where war, genocide, environmental crisis, and natural disasters abound. Need I even mention the current state of the economy? To vote is to make a change. When you vote, you extend your faith in a candidate beyond just moral support. This is the most important election in years. It's important that all those who are able exercise their rights and privileges as an American citizen to do what they can to insure that the candidates of their choice is one vote closer to winning their respective positions in office.
Voting affects everyone. It is an individual choice that helps direct the course of history. It seems that everyone wants the benefit of living in a country of freedom and opportunity, yet there are still so many unwilling to contribute back to it. Vote not only because it will affect you, but because it will affect the people you love and the children you already have or hope to have one day. No, your ONE vote probably won't be the one vote that breaks the tie between who becomes president and who does not. But your one small vote is better than no vote at all.
