Is voting optional or dutiful?
Culture Science
Niketa Reed
Issue date: 10/1/08 Section: Opinion
For such a free country, we're awfully obedient. My heart goes out to those who choose not to vote. They're treated as abominations or bad guys in society for something they have a right to do or not to do.
Voting has come down to a matter of peer pressure, and that's just in the act itself. There are many hiding out at home and stealing "I voted" stickers to cover up their "non-deeds."
Sure, voting is a privilege, but is forcing me to do it a violation of my rights? The question now is: should voting be viewed as an optional or a dutiful act as an American citizen?
It's funny how those pressing for people to vote only come around during major elections. The smaller ones are important, too. In these local elections, the people who make a lot of direct decisions are selected.
Go ahead and name me three local city or state officials outside of the mayor. Who's on your school board and City Council? Where were all the registration tables then when we really needed them, not a few weeks before another major election?
So when is the right time to decide not to vote? Perhaps that's the problem. Citizens don't know when not to vote. It's no wonder so many feel deprived when there's no choice for them in major elections. They probably should have voted a long time ago, like in February. Voters' education takes place year-round.
With voting comes heavy responsibility. Maybe pretty speeches and being a woman won't cut it for you. At the end of the day, whomever individuals vote for could become the person they helped put into office, and that should etch itself into their consciences.
The traditionally feared young crowd, those between the ages of 18 to 30, has been marked as optional voters. In 2000, an estimated 42 percent of 18 to 24 year olds turned out to the polls, according to an article on young voters in USA Today.
In a 2002 poll of 804 people, Gannett News Service found that 59 percent of 18 to 30 year olds viewed voting as a choice versus a duty.
Voting has come down to a matter of peer pressure, and that's just in the act itself. There are many hiding out at home and stealing "I voted" stickers to cover up their "non-deeds."
Sure, voting is a privilege, but is forcing me to do it a violation of my rights? The question now is: should voting be viewed as an optional or a dutiful act as an American citizen?
It's funny how those pressing for people to vote only come around during major elections. The smaller ones are important, too. In these local elections, the people who make a lot of direct decisions are selected.
Go ahead and name me three local city or state officials outside of the mayor. Who's on your school board and City Council? Where were all the registration tables then when we really needed them, not a few weeks before another major election?
So when is the right time to decide not to vote? Perhaps that's the problem. Citizens don't know when not to vote. It's no wonder so many feel deprived when there's no choice for them in major elections. They probably should have voted a long time ago, like in February. Voters' education takes place year-round.
With voting comes heavy responsibility. Maybe pretty speeches and being a woman won't cut it for you. At the end of the day, whomever individuals vote for could become the person they helped put into office, and that should etch itself into their consciences.
The traditionally feared young crowd, those between the ages of 18 to 30, has been marked as optional voters. In 2000, an estimated 42 percent of 18 to 24 year olds turned out to the polls, according to an article on young voters in USA Today.
In a 2002 poll of 804 people, Gannett News Service found that 59 percent of 18 to 30 year olds viewed voting as a choice versus a duty.
Be the first to comment on this story