There shouldn’t be any excuses to not vote

Recently, a friend of mine came to me outraged about my Barack Obama bumper sticker. I told him I just wanted to show my support, while he, still outraged cried “Why? He’s terrible.” I responded that he’s much, much better than Mitt Romney, to which he responded, “No, they’re both terrible. That’s why I’m not voting.”

I was shocked that he wasn’t voting. He voices his opinions constantly, he really seems to care about politics, but he decided not to vote because he does not like either of the candidates for president.

Sadly, this is a re-occurring theme in our generation. Students come up with excuses not to vote, from “I don’t have time,” to “I’m just not interested,” to “they’re both terrible.”

It confuses me that some students are not interested in their country. Our country is a democracy. We are lucky enough to get a choice in how our country is run. Many other countries can’t say the same.

Maybe you don’t like Obama or Romney. That’s not a problem. There are plenty of third party candidates. Check into them, maybe you will like what one of them stands for.

Many people believe that these third party candidates don’t have a chance of winning. Granted, this is probably true. But by voting for a third party candidate, you can at least exercise your right to make a choice.

Besides voting for the president, there are other many important issues on ballots this year. I am a South Dakota resident, and on this year’s ballot are laws that have to do with teacher tenure, and a one percent sales-tax increase, among others. Of course I am interested in my voice being heard on new laws in my state. There is no way I could pass up an opportunity to show that I have a voice in my government.

Some students, like myself, are from out of state. I am fortunate enough to only live one hour away, so it is easy enough for me to travel home and cast my vote. A fair number of students don’t have that opportunity.

That doesn’t mean you can’t vote. Some states are still accepting applications for absentee ballots.

That means that we’ve run out of excuses. “I don’t have time,” “I’m not a resident of Nebraska,” and “I don’t like either of the candidates,” are all failing excuses.

When people say that they don’t like something, they don’t seem to realize that they can do something about it.  Don’t like your governor? Exercise you right to change it. Don’t like tax laws? Exercise your right to change them.

Our country has been fighting for centuries for everyone to have a choice in our government. Rather than our country being run by a king or a dictator, we are part of the choices made in America. That’s why we get to vote. We are a democracy, and everyone in America can use this privilege.

It is my hope that our generation decides to care enough to step up. There are no excuses when it comes to whether or not you are going to vote. Because when we carelessly cast aside something as important as our right to take part in our country’s decisions, we cast aside our rights as Americans.