You shouldn’t touch that, it’s hot. You shouldn’t play with your food, its not proper etiquette. You shouldn’t vote, it doesn’t count for anything. You also shouldn’t listen to everything you are told. This notion that nobody’s votes matter is sweeping across the United States, especially with millenials. In school we were always taught that in presidential elections, the electoral college basically decides who gets to be president, and we have always taken that at face value. I think that is where people are getting the idea that citizens’ votes don’t matter. But maybe we should stop listening to other people and decide for ourselves whether we want to participate in choosing our leaders. (Which we should.)
As you may have heard, there is huge chaos going on in the UK with the Brexit decision. Basically, the United Kingdom has decided to leave the EU (European Union). If you are not sure what this will mean in terms of consequences, here is an article that nicely lists some of the big ones. After hearing the results, there are some US citizens who are getting concerned. If a horrible decision like that can be made by the voters of the UK, what kind of horrible decision are we heading towards? With the presidential campaign well under way, I thought I would take this time to revisit those wonderful days of American Government 101. For those of you who are a little rusty, I will go over the basics of the Electoral College. It is a group of people who formally elect the president and vice president of the US. Each state has a set number of electors based on population. When a candidate wins in a state, they get all electoral votes in that state. A candidate wins the presidency by getting more than half of the electoral votes. There are some details that get a little tricky but the point is, you’re vote actually does count. Your votes help decide which candidate gets the electoral votes of your state. Don’t listen to the non believers. If you don’t trust me, you can look it up and watch this video that simplifies the process.
I confess myself guilty of being one of those people who never had the desire to vote because I never thought my vote mattered. Even after talking multiple American government classes in high school and college, I still did not rush to get registered. Finally, a good two years after I turned 18, I registered to vote. I started to get really anxious about where this presidential election was going, so I got proactive and proudly registered to vote. Waiting to register until a presidential election with some of the worst possible candidates is procrastination at its finest. I figured that since I really didn’t want one candidate to win, I would put my vote towards the other candidate. At least I would know I did my part as an American citizen.
If you want to make a change, you have to participate. That is as true in politics as it is in life. I do not follow politics like a governmental sheep, but I know enough that I don’t want to waste my privilege. I don’t want to talk about what would happen if a certain candidate got elected president, I want to prevent that from happening in the first place. I have a feeling this will be a close election. So don’t listen to the naysayers, maybe try to teach them a thing or two. Let’s take Brexit as an example and take control of this great country’s future.
