Throughout the country, there has been a mass amount of arguments about the upcoming elections. One would think that for all of the outrage on various subjects everyone would want to vote so as to promote their choice in the election.

However, according to Fairvote.org, 40% of Americans didn’t vote during the last election and 50% didn’t in the midterm elections. How can those elected into office truly be representing the people if most don’t even vote? One of the best ways in the United States to let your voice be heard is by electing people who listen and act.

There are countless reasons why people don’t vote. Two chief reasons among them is that people feel that there aren’t any good options or that their voice won’t affect anything. For most these are very valid reasons, however, things won’t get better until we make them better.

If you don’t like the candidate placed before you then a better option won’t ever present itself if your voice isn’t there. However, in many cases, the chosen delegates aren’t those who you support. This can be tempting to prevent you from casting your vote. However, the saying about the lesser of two evils isn’t entirely without merit.

You can choose the one most willing to protect the Constitution and uphold their office with dignity and justice. Even if they’re far from the ideal, working with the best option is the way to work towards even better options. It may be slow progress, but it’s still progressing in the right direction which is worth much more than faster progress in the wrong.

There is, however, the other reason I mentioned as to why people don’t vote. This is that they feel that their voice isn’t going to be heard so why bother at all. The answer is simple because following this logic is what causes many to abstain from voting. Let’s say that only 10% abstain from voting for this reason. The last election would have changed who won for less.

Now imagine how much different things could be if instead, we had voting rates closer to those in the 1800s where the average was much closer to 80%. The one elected with this would truly be the one chosen by the people and not just by those who arrived. And who knows, maybe we could then surpass that and move closer to 90-100%, though that’s closer to wishful thinking in these times.

All this being said I’m not going to pretend that one vote is going to change the tide of an election. But it will still be your vote. It’s the only truly reliable way to make your voice heard because, at the end of the day, the only person that can make up your mind is you. The only person who can truly speak for you is yourself. The only one who can ensure your voice is heard is you.

So please, regardless of your sex, race, or political affiliations, make sure you vote and make your voice heard because the only one that can do so is you and your voice might be heard if you don’t, but let’s not leave that up to chance because we can make our voices heard and we can make a difference, it’s just up to us whether we choose to do so.