As a political science major, I take elections seriously. Voting is a vital part of maintaining true democracy and it's a pet peeve of mine when someone makes the choice to not vote, but still believes he/she deserves to have opinion on political issues. This past week, I had the privilege of reading "Here's Why I Won't Be Voting in the General Election". Now, normally when I pass an article like this on my Facebook feed, my response is to ignore it. However, with the recent turn of events, A.K.A. Donald Trump being the only Republican candidate left in the game, I decided to look into what people were saying about their voting options. What I read was that someone was in a gridlock between Donald Trump and proposed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and instead of hitting the research, they hit quit and decided they were just not going to vote in the general election on November 8, 2016. As I debated quoting the article put before me about not voting in the general election, I decided to take a different approach, and tell you why you should.

Now, I don't know about any of you, but when I came to college in the fall all I wanted was to turn 18 so I could put my name on a ballot and cast a vote. As of right now, the United States has one of the

lowest voter turnouts around the world according to Washington Post. To me, that is because of people who seem to think their vote does not matter, so rather than proving that it does, they imply we as a country do not care who we are electing into office, especially on a local and state level. In my political science class, we discussed numerous times the idea of incumbency advantage, meaning the person in office has a greater chance of being re-elected than his/her opponents. Elections are becoming less and less competitive to the point where most congressional elections are predicted in advance. What does that say about the United States to other nations, if the same people are re-elected every cycle? Without voting, we will remain stagnate in ideas, ideas that form the legislation that impacts citizens in every state.

Voting, regardless of what society tells you, is not a right. It is a privilege, one some people never get to experience. We as Americans should be grateful that every time an election comes around we get to cast a vote, because throughout history, people of all backgrounds have fought for that privilege. Starting back in 1870 with the 15th Amendment, giving everyone the right to vote regardless of race, to 1920 with the 19th Amendment securing the right to vote regardless of sex and even up until the Civil Rights Movement of 1960 where African-American voters faced a litany of oppression from states implementing legislation such as Jim Crow Laws.

I am mad. I am mad that people do not care about the future of this country, and I am mad that so many people are ready to give up something that took decades to achieve. I am mad at those who write articles like this one, encouraging others to not complete their civic duty. But more than mad, I am motivated. Motivated to get more people registered before the general election in November. Motivated to share why you should vote instead of making excuses for why you shouldn't. So you can let your vote go un-cast, but do you know who won't? First time voters, people who are truly fed up with the status quo, people infuriated with the incumbent, people in love with the incumbent, people with your attitude, but know there are other elections on the ballot that are just as important as a presidential election, and people like me who just give a damn about who makes the legislation and foreign policy that affects us.

Your vote is too vital to throw away, and remember by doing so, you have joined the majority of Americans who sit idly by and do nothing. So to the person who does not vote in this election, to the person who does not see a "qualified candidate" on the ballot and to the person who wrote this article, congratulations! You just willingly gave up the voice you never had to fight for.