If there is one thing my political science professor has told us that I will always remember, it is this: "The right to complain comes with it an obligation to participate." The basic idea is that you lose your right to complain about election turnouts when you don't participate in the voting process.
The voter participation rate in the 2012 election was a mere 57.5 percent. There a many reasons people don't vote, but more often than not it's a form of protest, people don't know how to register and obtain a ballot, or people think their vote doesn't matter. Personally, I will never understand protest votes — even if it's an election where we must choose between the crook and the fascist, I would still want to have a say in deciding on the lesser of the two evils. But it is still a decision that everyone has the right to make, so to each his own. As for the latter two reasonings, we can usually attribute it to a lack of understanding of the election process works.
So if you don't know much about the Electoral College and how it works, let me teach you. Because I can assure you, your vote matters.
The Electoral College is a collection of delegates (electors) from each state who place votes for President and Vice President of the United States on behalf of the states they have been chosen to represent. There are 538 electors in total and 270 electoral votes are needed to win the Presidency. This is a very generic definition of the Electoral College and doesn't fully explain the process, so let's break it down a bit.
How many electors does each state receive?
The number of electors each state receives is equal to the number of Representatives (proportional) and Senators (two per state) that each state has in the U.S. Congress. The map below shows how many electors are allocated to each state.
How are the electors chosen?
Each candidate has his or her own group of electors which are chosen state-by-state by the candidate's political party. For example in this election, there will be four groups of electors in each state, one for each candidate (Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, Jill Stein, Gary Johnson).
The electors who will represent the states in the Electoral College are chosen on election day, based on the ballots sent in by the voters. So, if Hillary wins the majority in a state, it is her group of electors who will be chosen to represent that state in the Electoral College.
Exceptions: Nebraska and Maine have a proportional representation system that chooses two electors based on the state-wide popular vote, and the remainder based on the popular vote in individual congressional districts.
How are electoral votes cast?
When you cast your vote for President, you are really casting a vote for your state's electors. Take for example Oregon. We have a total of seven electoral votes, and the candidate who wins the popular vote (direct number of votes from the voters) wins all of the electoral votes in Oregon. So, if Hillary wins the popular vote, even if just by one vote, her group of seven electors that were chosen by the Oregon's Democratic Party will represent Oregon in the Electoral College where they will vote for Hillary on behalf of the state of Oregon. If she wins the popular vote in Oregon, she wins seven electoral votes that will go toward the 270 needed for her to win the presidency.
Does the popular vote matter?
The answer to this question depends on who you ask. Most people would say no because the President is not selected based on a popular vote. Furthermore, there are certain states that can always be predicted to vote Republican or Democrat. States like Oregon and California can almost always be counted on to vote Democrat, whereas states like North and South Dakota can almost always be counted on to vote Republican. As a result, most people will argue that votes in these states don't really matter because everyone knows which candidate is going to win that state, regardless. So, are they right? Does your vote for Trump matter in a state like California that is, without a doubt, going to give all of its electoral votes to Hillary? I would argue that yes, it does. Whether you live in California where the votes are likely to go to the Democratic candidate or a swing state like Ohio where there is less certainty in which way the state will vote. Sure, one vote might not make a difference in those predictable states, but we're not talking about just one vote. There are a lot of people who have this mindset, and as a result, choose not to vote in the election (remember that 57.5 percent voter turnout?). And that is where we find a flaw in their argument. One vote might not make a difference, but hundreds? If every single person in this country voted regardless of which candidate was likely to win the electoral votes in their state, we just might see a difference in who takes which states. After all, revolutions have been known to happen when large groups of people with the mindset take action to change the things they don't like. The popular vote may not be the deciding factor on which candidate takes the presidency, but it is the deciding factor on who wins the electoral votes in each state, and that's still a pretty powerful way to voice your opinion.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the Electoral College is a perfect system — the fact that a candidate can win the popular majority and still lose the election has the power to make one question the validity of democracy. However, we must also remember that the United States is not a democracy, but a democratic republic and the Electoral College was put in place to protect from tyranny of the majority.
So, are you going to participate in this historical election, or continue to be upset when things don't turn out as you had hoped, despite your lack of participation in the process?
How do I register to vote?
If you haven't registered to vote, I highly encourage you to do so. You still have time to register in most states and make your voice heard. The deadlines for registration in each state can be found here, provided by Rock The Vote.
