Why Each Vote Matters
By Albert B. Kelly
Just about every year at this same time, meaning in the
month of October, I go on about registering to vote and turning out on Election
Day to actually cast your vote and even as I do this, I imagine that people
grow tired of hearing about how important it is to register and vote. That’s
understandable.
Some might assume that I go on about getting registered and
voting simply because I have a dog in the fight, meaning because I’m an elected
official running for office and I want people to vote with the hope that people
will support me at the polls. It is true that I am running for office and I do
hope people will support me at the polls but that’s not the half of it.
I talk about getting registered and voting because that’s
how power gets distributed locally, statewide, and nationally. I encourage
participation because it is how our system works. Whether we like the
candidates or not doesn’t alter the fact that decisions will be made by the
winner and their decisions will impact your life and the lives of those you
know and love. That fact alone should guide our choice.
If people are tired of hearing about how important it is to
register and vote so be it. I grow weary of people not voting because according
to them, they don’t like the choices as if it were a personality contest-
detached from experience, ability, intellect or even “gravitas”.
Elections aren’t popularity contests. Whether we’re voting for
the next mayor, assemblyperson, governor, senator or president the winners will,
to a large degree, determine what rights and privileges we continue to have and
how much they’ll cost us.
My other concern is that we’re losing the very thing that
has allowed our country to be unique among nations, meaning how power ultimately
flows from the voters up to their elected representatives. This exchange is
based on accountability- the idea that those to whom we grant the power to lead
are ultimately accountable to each voter whether in a community, a district, a
state or nationally.
When large numbers of people simply walk away from that
exchange of power by failing to vote or they decide not to participate at all
by failing to register, what we lose one eligible voter at a time is
accountability. Accountability is the answer our system has to the person who asks
why they should even bother.
Your vote after all, is just one vote and that is all it
will ever be, but that one vote finds its strength and definition when it is
joined with other votes cast. And it is certainly true that your single vote
won’t have outsized influence and it is highly doubtful that your one will ever
be the deciding vote, but it does matter.
I’ve talked with some who avoid registering or voting
because they claim all politicians are corrupt and they are only in it for
themselves. It’s true that some are corrupt and more than a few are in it
mostly for what they can get out of it whether power, wealth ,fame or some
combination of these. But how exactly are things to change if we’re unwilling
to hold those in office accountable on Election Day?
I understand cynicism and even a little disgust especially
these days, but I’ve never understood indifference knowing that policies, laws,
statutes, and appointments made by elected officials will impact our lives for
better or worse. Whether war, taxes, trade policy, civil rights, immigration, health
care, or criminal justice; those who get enough votes on Election Day will shape
our lives and this fact alone should guide our choices.
Election Day is about that exchange when voters hand power over
to one candidate or the other to impact our lives. But built into each election
is accountability and when candidates are accountable to the largest number of
voters possible, that’s when our system works best at the community level,
statewide or nationally.
If you are not registered to vote, the deadline to register
is October 16th and you can register by visiting “Rock the Vote” at https://www.rockthevote.org/voting-information/new-jersey/
, or through the Cumberland County Board of Elections by visiting https://cumberlandcountyvotes.com/voters/voter-eligibility/
. The website also has information on polling places, absentee ballots, and
voting by mail.
Election Day is November 6th and every vote
matters, including yours.