As a young woman in today’s America, I consider my power to vote one of my most important rights.
Since I have come of voting age, I have watched the people in power strip away my rights, stunt my future financial stability, and continually call into question things I thought were protected. Nothing will ever make me forget the disappointment, disgust, and anger I felt when I woke up the morning after Election Day in 2024, when I realized that the American public decided a convicted felon, among other things, was better fit to be the leader of our country than a qualified woman.
I blamed it on ignorance and the chaos of the Democratic nomination. However, after these last two years, it has become clear to me that I may have been naive to think that the sexist and racist rhetoric that has been entrenched in our country’s history was not a leading reason why the presidential election turned out the way it did. After that election, it was evident to me that a good chunk of the American public sees attacks against women, the LGBTQ+ community, POC, the environment, and the average working American as unimportant or inconsequential. In fact, some even celebrate it.
Thinking back to the last election cycle, I knew too many people who were “on the fence” about voting. Saying that the election was a race between two “evils,” and that at the end of the day, their vote really “didn’t matter,” so why bother? Gosh, what a silly thing to say.
I have heard discourse online about how, “if voting really was powerful, the government wouldn’t let us do it,” as if women did not suffer abuse fighting for their right to vote 100 years ago, as if the civil rights movement did not show that black people and other racial minorities were being killed and threatened if they tried to exercise their right to vote. The government has tried to prevent us from voting. It’s not just minority groups that have had to gain this right; if you were not a white man who owned property, the founding fathers decided that you were not fit to vote at the time this country was created. Not voting is a slap in the face to all those people who put their lives on the line so you could check those little boxes and have your say on how this country is run.
I am a registered Democrat from New York; statewide elections usually go my way. However, just because NY isn’t considered a “battleground” state, that doesn’t mean I won’t vote. Texas shocked everyone by flipping both the Governor’s seat and a Senate seat for democrats, something they haven’t been able to do in yearsโ no, decades. Texas was not considered a battleground state, just like NY, but the midterms showed that no “solid” state can rely on precedent.
If you want any proof of how important a single vote is, simply look to the Mississippi Senate race, which is currently being decided by a couple thousand votes. That is a very small margin of people considering the size of the state. Historic change has been made this cycle. Kansas, Georgia, Iowa, South Carolina, Ohioโ all these states had people show up and show out to unsettle the current administration’s comfort in disregarding the will and well-being of the American people.
If most people were led to believe that their vote didn’t hold enough power to make a difference, we would be allowing the opinions of a few to dictate the lives of many. After 2024, I’m not so sure I could let any election slip by without having my vote cast.
These midterms have given me hope for the country moving forward, though there is a lot of work still to do. Part of being an active voter is holding those in power, especially those you voted in, responsible for their actions and expecting them to try and stick to their promises to make progress. Your voice always matters; your vote always matters!
For more information on this election cycle, visit apnews.com