by Michelle Famula
If you are the ages of 18 and 100+ and eligible to vote, you should be very concerned that voting is becoming less and less important to a lot of eligible voters like you. Reports predict that the 2024 March primary election will be a near historic low voter turnout. I’m not smart enough to articulate all of the reasons why people would give up on voting, but I do know why the failure to value the right to vote is very disturbing.
America has real problems that warrant real solutions. Ballot measures and candidates have agendas and issue positions. Are they the ones you want to see enacted? Do they sound awful to you? Then vote!
Despite what some may say…the one with the most votes wins. Period. That’s why folks who want to control our government work so hard to restrict who can vote and want to make it harder to submit a ballot.
It’s important to know that some in our country work even harder to ensure every eligible voter has the opportunity to cast their vote in the most user-friendly way.
Our government is a system built for Americans to improve or ignore as they choose. That is what voting is about. Folks who believe failing to vote sends a message that they are unhappy about who is running or about local and national failures to address our real problems are really wrong. In fact, those “non-voters” are saying, “keep it up. I’m good with this.”
In 1920, a group of voting activists formed the League of Women Voters with a vision of a democracy where every person has the desire, right, knowledge, and confidence to participate. They believed these were the 4 key reasons why people sit out elections and let others chose for them. It is probably not different 104 years later.
It is not more important today to exercise your right to vote, it’s just as important.
Don’t sit it out. Your vote is your voice. I hope you will join me in returning your ballot for the March 5th primary election, and every election after that. You have an opinion. Don’t just tell your friends and family. Tell your government!
Michelle Famula, President
LWV Davis Area
