When I was in 11th or 12th grade, we studied the murder of Kitty Genovese in my psychology class.

For those who don’t know the story, Kitty was a bartender who, on her way home from work, was stabbed to death outside of her apartment in front of almost 40 witnesses. Neighbors later reported that they heard Kitty being attacked, but none of them called the police or intervened because they all assumed someone else would do it.

This is known as the bystander effect, and it’s not a phenomenon restricted to murders and other violent crime. Since poor Kitty’s death, psychologists have proven that the more people are in the same situation, or on the same side, the less likely individuals are to speak up. And I worry the bystander effect will affect the upcoming election for the worse.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m thrilled Cheeto McFuckface (I refuse to give his name anymore mentions on the internet) is crashing and burning in the polls. Statistics savant Nate Silver updates his website 538.com daily, and as of writing this, the electoral college is set to turn gloriously blue.

The path seems clear for the election of our first woman president — even if it did take a disturbingly long time for the general public to realize what a horrific, misogynistic, xenophobic, cartoon villain of an idiot the other guy is. But before we break out the champagne, I urge people to remember the election hasn’t actually happened yet.

“Well, duh,” you say. “It’s on November 8. Stop talking to us like we’re children, Halle.”

First of all, I don’t appreciate that tone. Second, this is all to say that polls aren’t real numbers. They’re just projections of possible results. Not a single vote has actually been counted yet. But I fear that these "maybe numbers" have the same effect on Hillary supporters (and even those who are just anti-Cheeto) that Kitty Genovese’s neighbors had on each other — that you, personally, don’t really need to do anything (in this case, need to vote) because surely enough of your fellow citizens will step in.

To quote Han Solo — I'm both a political and pop culture nerd, being well-rounded is so important — don’t get cocky, kid. Counting our chickens before they hatch is so, so dangerous.

Vote. Everyone needs to vote. Even if you think Hillary Clinton is going to win by a landslide, you still need to do your part and vote for her. How do you think landslides happen?

Nate Silver’s polls, as encouraging as they are for the Democrats and sane human beings, are merely a reflection of what people say they’re going to do. We have a responsibility to ourselves and to future generations to actually follow through on our word. If everyone assumes the majority of other people got up and did their civic duty when they didn’t, then nobody does, and the next thing you know that maniacal orange is trying to blow up Canada and make Mexico pay for it.