For many of us St. Lawrence students, this upcoming presidential election will be our first time being able to vote! Whether you’re a Hillary Clinton fan, a Donald Trump fan, or not really a fan of either, there are many important reasons as to why you should take part in this year’s election. First off, according to Daniel Marans and Kim Bellware in an article titled “7 Reasons You Should Vote in This Year’s Elections” in the Huffington Post, millennial voters account for one third of the entire election. This means that we have a huge say in who our next President will be, and thus the choices that will be made for our country.
How much the next President can do also depends on whether his or her party controls the Senate or the House, so you don’t have to live in a state that is competitive in the presidential election for your vote to make a difference at the congressional level. Taking part in any election also makes our government more representative of our country and its democracy. The more people’s voices are heard, the more representative our government becomes of the majority of the population. Additionally, in a system designed to let two political parties (the Democrats and the Republicans) dominate, it is easy to conclude that voting for another party, especially in a high-stakes presidential race, is a waste. However, picking a third party is a perfectly suitable option. As stated by Marans and Bellware, “history suggests that your candidate is almost certain to lose the presidential election, but can substantially alter the debate in the process.” For example, scholars credit Ross Perot’s third-party presidential bid in 1992 with making the budget deficit a priority for President Bill Clinton. So, while voting for a third party may not have a huge visible impact, it has the potential to change the issues that the government and the next president supports.
Finally, voting is a right and a privilege that many people throughout American history have fought for, and people in other countries around the world are still fighting for today. This means that it is really important that we do not take this privilege that we have for granted, and that we make an effort to voice our political opinions. Although we are up at St. Lawrence and may not be in our home state to vote, one can easily fill out an absentee ballot to take part in this year’s presidential election!