The 2016 presidential election is among us and you cannot afford to sit this one out. However, if you were thinking about doing so, here are seven reasons you should change your mind.
1. For most of the collegiate community, this is the first year that you are eligible to vote in a presidential election.
Remember how left out you felt all those times mom and dad went to the polls? Well, now you have a voice. Now is your chance to let it be heard. If you don’t take advantage of that fact, you’ll have four years to regret it. You don’t need that on your conscience.
2. It isn’t too late. You still have time to educate yourself.
Part of the collegiate community choosing not to vote feels as if they don’t know enough about either of the candidates in order to make a sound decision. This generation is a product of the internet age and there is no way that you can’t do a quick Google search to learn about where the candidates stand on certain policies.
3. You can’t complain about the president for the next four years if you choose not to vote.
Okay, this obviously isn’t completely true. Of course you can complain about the person that was put in office to govern the country you live in. However, your choosing not to vote will only weaken your argument and make your political voice less credible. You don’t want that. You want to be taken seriously.
4. Your vote does count.
Yes, we all know that the electoral college elects the president. However, your vote does still count in a representative democracy. To put this into simpler terms, watch this video of President Obama explaining why your vote counts. This guy knows what he’s talking about.
5. You have more than two options.
A huge part of the collegiate community was “Bernie or bust.” When Bernie didn’t win in the primaries, a lot of people felt discouraged and gave up hope. Well, Bernie wouldn’t want that. You have options. You read above about educating yourself. That means learning about every candidate. There are third party candidates to choose from and there is the option of writing in a candidate. Just remember to be careful with your vote.
6. If you’re not a white man, people worked very hard to gain your right to vote.
I know you’re tired of hearing this, but it’s the unfortunate truth. Voting is a right that white women and people of color struggled to obtain and it is something that people in other countries are still fighting for. Don’t take this for granted.
7. You do care.
Another part of the collegiate community choosing not to vote believes that they simply just don’t care about the upcoming presidential election. Well, you do. By saying that you don’t care about who is elected to govern the country you live in for the next four years, you are saying a lot of things that you may not even realize. One of the most careless things that you are saying is that you don’t care about what will happen to the policies already set in place in your country. These policies we keep referring to include your precious minimum wage, reproductive rights for women, LGBTQIA+ rights, gun control reform and much more. You want to be a part of this. You need to be a part of this.
image credit: savetheday.vote