Voting

2002-2024 | 22 years

Yesterday was Super Tuesday, and I got to vote for the first time! So, I thought this week would be a good time for me to talk about that experience and reflect back on my website.

I turned 18 at the end of last year, so this was my first time being able to vote. I have been waiting to vote for so long, and was super excited to finally be able to do so. After school, I went to my local polling place and cast my vote for the primaries. This was really easy as I had already registered to vote last year, so the whole process was only about 10 minutes.

This country was founded because people were upset that they did not have the right to vote, and throughout its history, people have been fighting to make sure that all Americans have the right to vote. It is important to our society that we continue to engage with the process and what is going on in the world.

The reason I have been longing to vote for so much time is that I have wanted to be involved in our democratic process. Part of the reason that I created this website was to fill that longing by informing others my age about government, politics, and current events. I also created this website to try to motivate those who were old enough to vote to do so. I honestly believe that “decisions are made by those who show up”, and it is the duty of an American citizen to show up and take part in our democracy by voting.

I also think it is imperative everyone, not just those who are old enough to vote, take the time to educate themselves on what is going on in our world. We need to know what the people who represent us are doing, what actions they are taking, and how they affect our world. It is imperative that in the time of social media where we get our news from 15-second video clips, we take it upon ourselves to dig deeper when confronted with new information, and that we create and act upon our own opinions.

As President Bartlet points out in a different episode “...we forget sometimes, in all the talk about democracy, we forget it's not a democracy, it's a republic. People don't make the decisions, they choose the people who make the decisions. Could they do a better job choosing? Yeah. But when you consider the alternatives…”

It is up to we the people to choose who we want to elect. Politics has become increasingly polarized, with social media allowing campaigns to advertise to people without informing the people. This is why it is so important that not only do we go vote but that we inform ourselves when we vote so that we can vote based on substantive information rather than headlines. Although the internet has perpetuated surface-level learning, it can also be a great tool for those who want to learn about what you are voting on. For example, on Vote.org (I added a button on this page with the link) you can put in your address and see the issues and positions you will be voting on so that you can do research on them before entering the voting booth.