Why Do Midterm Elections Matter? | The Odyssey Online
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Politics and Activism

The Presidential Election Isn't The Only One That Matters

Go out and make your voice heard.

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When the topic of voting comes around, I often only hear an emphasis on voting in presidential elections. Yes, this is important, but voting in midterm elections is just as important and many people forget this.

2018 is no ordinary year, as it is a year for midterm elections which are more important now than ever in our incredibly divided country.

It can be easy to forget that the president isn't the one who makes the decisions all on their own. The House and Senate are a major key to the decisions that affect our country.

This year, 35/100 of the seats in the Senate will be contested.

This year, ALL of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives will be contested.

The decisions that are made at the polls, will change our country's politics. You want to be voting for officials that will represent your views and fight for them in D.C.

Even on a smaller scale, voting in midterm elections directly affects your community. Midterm elections will directly affect you.

Much of your day to day life and the policies that come with it, actually come from the things put in place by your local government, not on the national level.

I've often heard people say "oh my vote doesn't matter, it won't really count, I'm just one person," but that's not true. If all the people who said this, went out and voted instead, we could see some real change. We can't always just hit retweet, like and share posts. We have to actually go out and try to make a change.

If you want things to change, go and do something about it. Change has to start somewhere before it can spread far and wide. Start the change locally. Make your voice heard.

Vote.

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