Throughout the past few weeks, I’ve seen multiple Facebook videos shared to my newsfeed claiming that “the people’s vote does not matter” because “the electoral college ultimately decides" who becomes the next president of the United States. I would like to address this false claim and explain why each and every American citizen's vote truly does matter in each election.

To debunk the myth that our democracy does not rest in the hands of the people, it is important to understand the motives driving the members of the Electoral College who apparently "have all of the power" in general elections. Regardless of what campaign issues our politicians may be running on, their ultimate goal is to get re-elected and potentially move up in the ladder of Washington. If a Republican party representative is serving a district who is primarily voting for the Republican candidate, chances are he will follow party lines. However, if you have a Republican party representative and the majority of their district votes for the Democratic candidate, he will be pressured to decide between following the party or voting in favor of the votes of the people.

Now, let's be completely honest when it comes to the motive of our leaders. Unless our representatives did not want any future career in politics whatsoever, they would vote in favor of what the majority of their district wants! If the representatives followed party lines on every single issue instead of listening to their constituents, they would end up like the 16 republican candidates who lost the primary election to a man who has no experience in politics whatsoever, who as you all know as a man named Donald Trump.

As a government major, I am incredibly passionate about voicing my own opinion as well as listening to the opinions of others to be an active participant in our democracy. We all have the power to change our country for the better, so let's make a difference and voice our opinions, because we have the inalienable right to do so!