"I am not going to vote." I’ve heard this statement plenty of times, seen it typed out many other times, and I am honestly tired of it. I am tired of people saying they are not going to vote. We all know at least one person who has made that decision, and it is our duty to try and convince them otherwise.
Many organizations and celebrities have jumped in on various campaigns in order to convince large voter turnouts. One started by theSkimm, called #NoExcuses, has gained a lot of ground in the millennial generation. TheSkimm is an email newsletter that (rather sarcastically) breaks down the biggest news in the world to make us all a little more informed (you can sign up here, if you desire). During the election season, theSkimm has been working to make sure that everyone is well-informed enough to vote. They have put together pages full of information about how to vote, and about the candidates and issues at hand this election. Additionally, Save the Day, a short-form digital production company that is committed to convincing citizens that voting is a necessary and heroic act, has made it easier to register to vote and has promoted many videos (one humorous one including Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, James Franco, and Julianne Moore) in order to encourage a higher voter turnout.
Yet still, there are excuses being thrown out there, and people still claiming they are not going to the polls on November 8th. So here is my last ditch effort to convince those people otherwise. Here are some of the common excuses I have personally heard from people not voting, and why I think they are unacceptable.
I Do Not Feel Like I Am Informed Enough
Sorry, Mom, but this excuse is substandard. There are a plethora of websites that have gathered together the platforms of each candidate, the issues they are looking to fix, and how they plan on doing so in order to make this election a little more simple for the everyday person. Websites like theSkimm, Rock The Vote, and VOTE.org help you see what is on your state ballot and also help to explain the issues you see there. There are also quizzes, such as ISideWith.com and VoteMatch, which allow you to discover where you align with each of the candidates. In itself, that is an informed decision; to support someone solely based on where they stand on the issues important to you, that is enough.
If you still do not feel "well informed", please spend some time this weekend on the internet finding information on the issues you do not feel informed about. It does not have to take the entire election season to figure it out; it can take a few minutes.
I Do Not Have the Time
Yes, you do. You have a few minutes to get to your local polling place and check off a few bubbles. You have to work? Some states have paid time off to allow voting. If your state is not one of them, luckily most states have polls which are open from 7am-8pm (some from 6:30am-7:30pm), which is plenty of time to get yourself there and do your civic duty. Grab breakfast on the go, skip your morning coffee run, or skip making dinner and treat yourself to a nice meal out afterward. You can ask your boss for an hour off, ask them to show up a little late, or leave a little early, or take a bit longer of a lunch break. Just find the time. So many people fought for our right to vote, and I think we owe it to them to spend a few minutes to go stand in line at the polls.
We Do Not Have Any Good Options
Well, voting on election day is voting for more than the President of the United States. You still have a choice in your state officials, your senators, and your representatives. You still have a choice in the state laws that are located on the ballot. So even if you do not like the main candidates, you have many other subjects to vote on. Further, there are more candidates than the two major political party candidates. I encourage you to vote third-party or write-in if you are really that passionate about not voting for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. Those are not wasted votes. A wasted vote is simply choosing not to exercise your right to vote.
My Vote Will Not Count Anyway
I hate this one. And I have heard it so many times living in Massachusetts (a very democratic state). Your vote counts. If everyone had that same mentality and no democrats voted here in MA we would all of the sudden become a republican state, and trust me, very few people around here would be happy about that. And for those of you who think the electoral college prevents your vote from going to your candidate, I encourage you to read about the electoral college process. Yes, the electoral college has its pros and cons, but there have only been four times where the electoral college has elected a President that did not win the popular vote (1824, 1876, 1888, and 2000), so overall, it does the job.
Bottom line: your vote counts a lot more when you submit one then when you don't.
If we do not vote, we are not only letting our country down, but we are refusing to exercise our freedom as a United States citizen. There really are no excuses not to vote, so I encourage you to make your way to your local polling place on November 8th and help do your civic duty.
