Nothing bothers me more than when people say, if you did not vote, you do not have a right to complain. First off, a person may have a good reason why he or she did not vote. Perhaps they are away at college (like me) or they are out of the country, studying abroad and lastly, what if they just believe that it does not make a significant difference in the outcome. These are all acceptable reasons why a person may not vote. However, pertaining to this particular election, perhaps someone does not want to vote because he or she sincerely does not believe either candidate, Donald Trump (R) and Hillary Clinton (D), should not be president of the United States.
Freedom of speech allows everyone to speak his or her mind, and I am going to exercise this right in this article. I personally was originally going to vote for Donald Trump. After the video release of Trump talking to Billy Bush in an extremely degrading way towards women, I started to sway towards Hillary Clinton. I thought how amazing our country is to truly be in a place where we can now have a female president, as we weren’t even allowed to vote until the year 1920. Now, I really cannot decide whom I am voting for.
You can argue both sides, and say whose scandals are worse. Both candidates have them, and both somehow are still eligible to be President of the United States. Even though this is a groundbreaking election, and my first one, I do not think that I am going to vote. I could use the excuse that I am away at school, but it really is because I do not want to. I will not have a clear conscious voting for either candidate. I am sure I will receive some backlash for this decision, which I should point out is not final yet. However, just as everyone has their right to vote, everyone has their right to not vote.
I also would like to say that I do have the right to still complain about the outcome even if I do not vote. Why shouldn’t I? Just because I didn’t take measures to change the final result? That is because I was unhappy with both candidates. So, if you really think about it, I have even more of a reason to complain. I know my parents and other generations will stay say that I should not be complaining, but I will. I will comment on the current condition of this country because it is my home too.
I guess my take home lesson in writing this article is to not feel the pressure to vote. If you want vote, then that is great. If you are in favor of one candidate over the other, go for it. As of right now, there are only eleven days left until the election. This is your time to decide what you are going to do. Regardless if you vote or not, this election will change history as we know it. It will completely change our home, and if you want to be a part of that change in history, I commend and encourage you. Just make sure that it is not a decision you will regret.
