Voting Matters

photo credit Unsplash

The importance of democracy is that it allows all people, regardless of wealth, status, race, gender, etc the ability to have a say in how the government is run. It is why a government by the people has been so historically important. It eliminated systems based on inheritance and wealth, allowing everyone the opportunity to participate. In turn, this has allowed the entire world to progress as it allows different ideas, perspectives, and experiences the ability to flourish. And the key to democracy is voting. Voting allows everyone a say in who will be elected to make the laws that govern the entire country.

There is the saying that “a single twig breaks, but the bundle of twigs is strong.” In terms of voting, the single voter may fail to achieve anything, but when many voters come together, they can enact change. This is why voting is important. It is also why there are those out there that try to make it more difficult for ordinary people to vote. Whenever you hear about states placing restrictions on the right to vote, you should be concerned. Yes, voting needs to be regulated in order to be considered legitimate, but regulations should be fair and necessary. What is the need to ban handing out water to those standing in line waiting to vote? What is the need to eliminate polling places in certain areas? Why is it necessary to ban mail-in voting? All of these regulations only make it harder for some people to vote. It doesn’t actually do anything to prevent illegal voting.

Now why are there so many working to restrict voting while placing more burdensome regulations on voting to make it harder for regular people to vote? It’s because when ordinary people band together they can affect change. At the moment it is the wealthy that have the advantage. They have the money and the resources to influence politicians to enact policies specifically for their benefit. Think about it. Do you truly believe that a poor person has the same advantages legally, politically, socially, economically that a rich person has? As just a regular person, do you dread when something unexpected happens because you just don’t know how badly it will affect your life? If you had more money, how many of your problems would disappear? This is the point. The system is currently designed by the wealthy for their benefit. But the thing is money can only do so much in a democracy. If ordinary people would just find common ground to work together they can vote for politicians that will look out for their best interest instead of for those who have the money to buy them. And this is why there are so many attempts to restrict voting. It’s not a fear of illegal voting, which is incredibly rare, but a fear of what would happen if every vote actually counted. The wealthy are a minority. The rest of us could ban together and vote for politicians that would actually enact legislation that would benefit us. We wouldn’t have to live in fear of that unexpected event that may completely destroy our lives. We could rely on a government that was working to protect us. to make us safe, to help us.

If regular people are restricted from voting, then we can no longer make changes to those in charge and instead we’ll have to rely on the mercy of those with the power. This is why democracy matters. This is why voting matters. This is why we should fight for our rights and not get fooled into giving up what is the one thing that gives us all an equal share of power.