This may have been your last chance, and you wasted it. Yes, I’m talking to you. If you chose not to vote, that is. Hundreds of thousands fewer people voted in Ohio this year than in the 2020 election.
I’m not talking about people who were physically unable to vote, who couldn’t get home or whose absentee ballots got lost in the mail. Politically-minded exchange students don’t count either.
I’m talking about people registered within an hour of Miami University and had every opportunity to exercise their legally given right to decide who is in charge, but they just didn’t do it.
The past three presidential elections have been pretty wild, with a lot at stake. No matter what side you’re on, it's hard to escape the doom and gloom. But lo and behold, shining in the distance, it’s the light of the right to choose who leads us. And baby, it’s beautiful.
If you chose not to vote, let’s break down why you’re wrong:
Even if you choose not to participate in an election, it’s still going to happen.
No matter who your candidate is, you’re only hurting their chances of winning by not voting for them.
The presidential election isn’t the only thing on the ballot. Local races are important too, and they have plenty of weight for wherever you live.
Local issues like school funding and library levies can only pass if people vote for them.
Voting is such a crucial part of our lawmaking process. All of you should have taken some form of government class in the past and realized that we live in a democracy, which means we as citizens have a right and a responsibility to pay attention to politics.
It’s inconsiderate and un-American to just decide you're above what’s going on on both the local and national level. The people who don’t vote are the same people who complain about policies negatively affecting them, when they could have had an active role in deciding what happens to us.
I’ve heard a lot of reasons for not voting.
“I’m not educated enough.” If you’re at Miami, then you’ve graduated high school, and you have the reading comprehension to tell what policies mean.
“I don’t like either of them.” One of them is going to win (sorry not sorry third parties). Even if you choose not to vote in the presidential election, your local elections are still important.
“I didn’t want to take the time.” Have we forgotten that the winner of this election is going to be in charge of all of us for four years?
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“I don’t care enough.” Have we forgotten what being president is? Even if you “don’t care,” the person in the Oval Office can and will impact your daily life.
For people who did vote, thank you for doing your job with a little thing we call citizenship.
If not, you suck.
Gina Roth is a senior majoring in individualized studies and journalism from Springfield, Ohio. She is an undergraduate assistant for Journalism 101 honors, a barista at King Cafe and a Western Center student worker. Her focus is popular history and its effect on society and politics.
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