Somewhere along the line, many of us got into our heads that we cannot make a difference in politics. This is a devastating way of thinking as it allows smaller groups to enforce ideas and increase their power. All of sudden, our democracy is being threatened, but we continue to think that we can't do anything about it.
There are plenty of reasons why your vote matters. However, there is a new one that has come up since the last election.
The January 6th insurrection was an attempt to remove power from the American people, to throw out a lawful election and stop the transfer of power. During the planning phase of this operation, this attempt had to grapple with the idea that millions of Americans won't like what's happening. In order for this plan to succeed, they needed to sow doubt in the results and keep the election close. Otherwise too many people would end up protesting this insurrection.
This is why your vote matters now more than ever. Its an indicator towards how much resistance there would be towards an unlawful grab of power. Had there been more active voters, more well-informed voters in the 2020 election, then the January 6th insurrection may have been viewed as impossible.
Democracy needs voices and voters to work. Dictatorships actively work to silence and remove your vote.
Use your voice, help defend democracy, go vote.
The goal of this section is to get more people engaging in our Democracy. We can start with the basics, getting registered and making sure you know how you can vote on election day. Just the simple act of registering to vote can have profound effects.
All of those opinion polls that seem to guide what a politician can do? Those are often times restricted to registered voters or people who have voted. Everyone who are not registered do not count at all.
When you do go and vote, its more than just who wins and loses. Both political parties create whole strategies based on how much they won or lost by. They break down results by demographics, they look at who started voting, who switched parties, every piece of data they can find in order to find the perfect candidate and run the perfect campaign.
This is why you must vote. You can change the story. Are you in a district that always votes a certain way or for the same person? They are going to notice when you and people like you start to vote, change the margin of victory, and make a sure thing a contested district.
There should never be safe seats for election based on apathy. Every politician and every political party should always be concerned about how best to serve the people. This only happens when you take action.