Voting is a responsibility no American should take lightly. Every American is a player in the election game, where we get to choose our next leader for the next four years. The president of the United States doesn’t just make decisions, but he (or she) represents our country for the rest of the world to see and judge.
The right to vote is something an American takes very seriously, and that’s why I’m doing something I never thought I’d do during the first election I can vote: I’ve decided not to.
Our two top candidates are Donald Trump–a loud-mouthed, unpredictable “Republican”–and Hillary Clinton–a lying, private email-deleting Democrat. It is really astounding that these two were chosen as the representatives of their parties. It’s hard to say what’s worse: having a president who turns his campaign against minority groups and has insulted women countless times, or a president who we can’t trust. Our country is supposed to be one of the fairest, accepting, and opportunistic countries, so why are these the people we are considering to be our new commander-in-chief? Couldn’t we find anyone better to fill this position?
This election has certainly been a strange one. Turn on the television during any one of the three presidential debates and you’ll see eye rolling, interruptions, accusations, and straight-up name-calling. The candidates aren’t only going after each other’s policies, but they’re making personal attacks as well. This is beginning to look less like an election, and more like an episode of a reality TV show. I know that I’m not alone when I say that I don’t see presidential qualities in either candidate. It would be great if we could do a re-do, take some time to self-reflect as a country, and pick other people. Unfortunately, it’s too late, and we are less than a month away from casting our votes for the people we never thought would make it this far.
When I tell people I’m not voting, they tell me that it’s my right to vote, and I that I should vote. Apparently, I need to vote in order to give my country the leader I think it needs, and that deciding not to vote isn't protest, it's surrender. The problem is that I don’t believe either of the two would be a good president, and that voting for the lesser of two evils is still voting for evil. If I did vote, I would have to pick the one I dislike less. If the person I voted for won and then did something awful, I would feel indirectly responsible because I gave him/her my vote. I hear my peers having conversations about picking the least worst person, saying they will vote for Hillary so Trump won’t be elected, or vice versa. Is that really how we should be voting? The purpose of voting is to elect the person you support, but it seems as though there’s no better person to support.
In all honesty, I could see either candidate doing harm to this country. I wish I believed in one candidate who I was proud to represent, but unfortunately, I cannot support either. All I can do is sit back and hope that whoever is elected turns around and takes the role of president seriously, and that for the next election, we are given much better candidates. America owes us candidates that we will really want to vote for.
