Opinion: Every vote matters

There’s nothing remarkable or exciting about tapping the screen at a polling station or filling out a ballot to drop in the mail. 

The lackluster, independent act of voting may seem insignificant and even pointless, especially to members of contemporary culture inclined to thrive on social affirmation and personal fulfillment.

But sometimes, the most significant actions are the simplest of acts. 

If you are a college student with any concern at all for the things that are happening in the world around you — your city, state, the country and even the world — you need to vote in the upcoming midterm elections. Voting isn’t just an important element of democracy. Voting is democracy.

According to the Freedom in the World 2018 report on the United States from Freedom House, “In recent years (the United States’) democratic institutions have suffered erosion, as reflected in partisan manipulation of the electoral process, bias and dysfunction in the criminal justice system, and growing disparities in wealth, economic opportunity, and political influence.”

Note the word “erosion.” The breakdown of systems and structures — whether good or bad — rarely happens overnight. Rather, it is a gradual process of deterioration, a consequence of coinciding apathy and imbalanced power.

An analysis like the one from Freedom in the World can be discouraging, but instead of being a deterrent to those able to vote, it should provide incentive for active participation in democracy. The erosion of our country’s democratic institutions can be combatted by citizen engagement — particularly the engagement of the younger generations.

While you might not think your vote counts for much, realize that while your generation is not expected to make up the majority of voters based on past turnout patterns, the potential influence of Gen X, Millennials and “post-Millennials” is significant.

A Pew Research Center poll published in June said that “59 percent of adults who are eligible to vote are Gen Xers, Millennials or ‘post-Millennials.’” 

This means that the majority of eligible voters are members of younger generations. Those votes — your vote — are hugely consequential and imperative to maintaining democracy.

Younger generations are often drawn to rallies and riots before they are persuaded to hit the polls. There is a sense of emotional and social investment found in these events that is perhaps not so easily experienced in a voting booth.

But while movements like March for Our Lives or the March For Life — among many others — can certainly impact the government’s decisions, voting is the first step in establishing a government that upholds the convictions of the people it represents. Those who don’t think their vote is significant are mistaken.

In the words of writer and cultural critic David Foster Wallace, “By all means stay home if you want, but don’t (convince) yourself that you’re not voting. In reality, there is no such thing as not voting: you either vote by voting, or you vote by staying home and tacitly doubling the value of some diehard’s vote.”

While movements, rallies and fundraisers may be glamourous, that doesn’t diminish the fact that voting is important.

Your vote, especially as a college student, is important.