In the recent weeks the UK (which consists of England, Ireland and Scotland), decided to leave the European Union. Although many people already know the effects it will have on the US on 401k and the currency, what few people fail to realize is that we can learn from it and apply it to the next presidential election in November.
It is pretty evident that the older generation wanted to leave and the younger generation wanted to stay. However, what many do not know is that the voter turnout was lower than expected. Only about 80 percent of people who were registered to vote came out and did it. With the other 20 percent of people being from all age groups and demographics.
You may be thinking that this is a high turnout, which to some extent it is. But think about this for a second. The vote came down to about 49% to stay and 51% to leave. What would have happened if the other 20% came out to vote? Would it alter the outcome? Maybe.
The point that I am trying to make here is that many people in the US think that their vote is not important. I am going to tell you that it is important based on the results of what happened with the Brexit vote.
Those 20 percent of people who failed to turn out in the UK could have made a difference, just like how you could make a difference in the presidential election. The problem here is that no one really takes elections seriously anymore and in my opinion, no one ever did. Data from previous elections show that in many of the elections only about 60% of the Voting Age Population (V.A.P.) decided to come out and actually participate.
Many people take for granted that we as United States citizens have the right to vote, and it angers me that so many of my friends are not registered to vote. "It's a waste of time," or "My vote doesn't even matter," and even, "I don't care about politics" are common answers I get when I push them to vote. Don't you even try to tell me that you don't like what's going on in terms of the government, if you didn't even vote. You clearly have no say if you had the chance to participate in the last election and refused to do anything about it. (Then there was me who was mad that she had to wait another year to vote in it).
Why do I care so much about voting you ask? It is because insistences like the Brexit vote happen and then people complain about the results when they didn't even vote. Or possibly the fact that I come from a semi-military family and they, like so many others, died for you so you could have the right to vote. Why are you just throwing it away is my question to you.
While I understand that we will never have a full 100 percent turn-out, people just need to realize that their vote is important. I can guarantee you that those voters in the UK right now are kicking themselves in the butt.
So, I ask you: if you are eligible to vote in the election in November, please go register because although it may not seem like it, your vote is important. Those 20 percent of people who did not vote in Brexit may have been able to turn the tides, and you could too in November.
