Why You Should Vote
Here’s why: because you’re young, and young people typically
don’t vote. That means if you do vote, you’re tipping
the scales toward a more accurate measure of whom the public actually
wants to run this country.
The 2000 election made cynics out
of plenty of potential voters when the decision about whether to
stop a Florida recount went to the Supreme Court. Many considered
the Supreme Court’s 5–4 ruling, which stopped the recount and gave
Bush the presidency, an unfair hijacking of the election.
Even if you’ve been completely disgusted by politics since 2000,
remember that the 2000 controversy happened
because the popular vote turned out so close. Voter apathy, especially
among young people, may have contributed to those results: less
than 50 percent of eligible voters voted
in 2000. While millions of teens and young
adults ignored voting booths across the country, senior citizens
in Florida gave the vote to the senior citizens in the Supreme Court
who ultimately picked the prez.
The U.S. Census Bureau published a table showing
the alarming gap in the numbers of younger and older voters: in
some states, less than 20 percent of eligible 18–24 year
olds voted, and in nearly all states the percentage of 45-year-old
and older voters who actually voted is double or triple that
of younger voters.
Swing to the Left, Swing to the Right
The 2004 election could rival the 2000 election
as one of the closest in history. When elections are close, voters in
swing states can make all the difference. “Swing states,” often
referred to as “battleground states” in the media, are states in
which it’s unclear who will win the popular vote. Texas, which Bush
dominates, is not a swing state. Neither is Kerry’s Massachusetts.
Many 2004 swing states are in the midwest
and southwest, including Arizona, Missouri, Minnesota, and Iowa.
Based on polls, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Colorado have all been
named swing states this time around. In 2000,
the 16 swing states held 176 electoral
votes, nearly two-thirds of the electoral votes
needed (270) to win the election.
The swing state issue is so crucial that several websites
have arisen dedicated entirely to tracking the swing. One site,
called Driving Votes,
is aimed at inspiring Democrats to drive to swing states and get
voters to register and vote for Kerry. They’ve even got driving
maps and a ride-share program going. The point is clear: if you
live in a swing state, your vote is uniquely important in determining
who ends up in the Oval Office.
