With the recent student-run voting initiatives on campus encouraging just-turned 18 year olds to participate in this year’s presidential election, there’s no missing the growing fervor surrounding this year’s election, both on and off Binghamton University grounds.
It isn’t necessarily the case that the presidential race between President Obama and Mitt Romney will be the highlight of our generation or that it supersedes all preceding races for the White House. Rather, just like all elections, its significance lies in the fact that the nation as a whole has both the right and the opportunity to express its frustrations, concerns, biases, hopes and contentment about its government — all through the action of pulling a lever.
So if you’re thinking about not voting this year and forfeiting the chance of speaking for yourself, your neighborhood, state and nation — that’s fine. Just don’t complain about who’s leading our country after elections.
A person can only critique or commend the policies and laws that are implemented by an elected government official if he exercised his right to either elect that person into office or vote for someone else. If you took no part in the process, then you simply can’t contribute to the whining or the celebration. You don’t deserve to.
Voting is the means by which we communicate with the leaders of our nation and tell them about ourselves. Whatever the message, it’s the act of communicating it that makes voting the highlight of any election. So why let your opinions go unheard or unrecognized?
Many non-voters make the argument that government won’t change regardless of who’s in control. The truth of the matter is that regardless of who is elected, whether it be in local, state or presidential elections, there will always opposing parties battling for control and lobbyists pushing their agendas. The fundamental politics of politics will never change, at least not anytime soon.
That truth, on the other hand, should not dissuade anyone from taking advantage of the freedom to have a say in who leads and represents our nation. What would the state of the U.S. be 11 years after the Sept. 11 attacks if Al Gore had been elected president instead of George W. Bush? What laws would currently be in effect if John McCain had won four years ago and not our current president?
Others argue that government is inherently corrupt and that voting is merely the process of picking the lesser of two evils. Even if that is is your belief, vote anyway. Essentially, every vote and voice counts, even if it’s half-hearted. Besides, it would be better to select your kind of evil rather than settling for a foreign one.
So on Nov. 12, let your voice be heard. Let your opinions be heard and felt by your officials, because silent voices don’t count. If you choose not to vote, then you won’t count either.