Not everyone votes. Not every CAN vote (their polls have limited hours, locations, staff), and not everyone cares. And voting matters. A LOT. There are plenty of times in history that more voting would have changed things significantly. Think on that one.
Thoughts on voting
- I'm not clear on why more people fail to vote early. You can get an absentee ballot in most states, and vote with it before the election. Boom. Far fewer crowds, you can choose a convenient time, and relax on voting day. EASY. Plan on being out of town, so you aren't lying, then if you change your plans and ARE in town...oops, you already voted.
- Local elections - WAY more important than we realize. These people have tremendous power locally, and they are the ones making decisions on OUR towns - where we LIVE. It's super easy to ignore these people, and to our own peril. Everything starts locally, so PLEASE vote locally and too, be active where you can. Support the better candidates as you can. And if you think it's a waste of time and that your town is run fine, contact a candidate you like and have a conversation with them. Ask them "what's our biggest issue" and see what they say. I mean, what is your town doing for the environment? How diverse are your politicians? How is your school around book banning? Is your prison system a for-profit system and you have more people in there so more profits are taken in? (Brrrrr.... happens all the time) Everything starts locally. Make sure your town is supporting YOU.
- It can be hard to find info on local candidates (say I, who just spent like 30 minutes googling with no good results)...unless you call up your Town Hall and ask where to look. So do that - call up your Town Hall. You're paying their wages - take advantage of that.
Voting is actually a much quieter thing, that's easy to overlook, than we realize. I spoke with a German friend who said that no one saw Hitler coming. He was just an obnoxious guy who many Germans ignored....and the next thing they knew he was running the country. Gang...politics matter. And voting is where that starts.
PLEASE vote.