One of the things I am most passionate about is voting. It is not a cool trend, or super fun event, but a duty for living in a democratic society. Ever since I turned eighteen, I made voting in every election a priority; even the ones that most people forget about. I tended to be the youngest person, or the only person, at the polling station for spring elections and on November Election days during non-presidential voting years. Not everyone makes voting a priority, but you should!

The turnout rate of Americans to the polls in the 2024 presidential election was just 64% (Pew Research Center, 2025). For non-presidential years, the turnout rate is even smaller. Only 46% of Americans voted in the 2022 midterm elections (Pew Research Center, 2025). These numbers look at the turnout for important national elections, that means other election years probably have even less turnout. 

Every year should be considered an important election year. While it is more exciting to vote for president and Congress, it is also important to vote for governors, state governments, mayors, judges, school board members, and tax levies. Actually, it’s probably more important to vote in your local and state elections since all of those positions and policies impact our everyday lives. Why wouldn’t you want to have a say in these issues?

Many people might shy away from voting because they “don’t like politics.” That is a fair assessment, except everything is political. What non-voters probably don’t like is the disagreement, nastiness, and corruption of politics. I don’t like those parts either, but it doesn’t keep me from researching issues, finding the candidate or policy decision that best aligns with my values, and making my voice heard through the ballot box.

I once read that your politics are your values in action. And I love that take. What do you value? Figure that out and then vote accordingly. But keep in mind, you may not have the option to select a candidate or position that perfectly aligns with your values, so who or what gets you the closest? We all want to jump on the express train to where we want to go. But sometimes, and most times when casting our ballots, we have to take the local train that is going to make 15 stops to hopefully get to our desired destination. 

Since I have been voting for so long, I cannot remember why it was important to me at eighteen to vote and continue to do so every year. As I got older, I gained a great appreciation for those who fought for the right to vote, and that has become one of my greatest motivators. The right to vote was not guaranteed to every citizen of this country. Unless you are a white, property-owning man, the generations before you fought for your right to vote. Many even died for it. Whenever I start to doubt if my vote matters, I think of the suffragettes who fought for women’s votes or the civil rights leaders who fought for Black votes, and I honor them all by casting my ballot. 

If you want to learn more about these two important parts of American history, I highly recommend the Broadway musical “Suffs” which tells the story of women fighting for the right to vote through the passage of the 19th amendment, which made voting a constitutional right for (white) women. If it visits your city, I recommend seeing it live. But you can watch the full musical through PBS instead!

I also highly recommend the movie “Selma” directed by Ava DuVernay, which tells the story of the 1965 voting rights marches from Selma to Montgomery led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other prominent civil rights activists. The marches helped bring the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which protected Black Americans’ voting rights. If you didn’t learn about Selma, Bloody Sunday, or John Lewis in school (I didn’t), I definitely recommend finding the movie on a streaming service or your local library to watch!

While our ancestors worked so hard for the right to vote, today we are fighting to keep that right. In recent years we have seen an assault on voting rights. Folks keep trying to make it harder to vote. The protections of the Voting Rights Act are being diminished one Supreme Court decision at a time (Shelby, 2013; Callais, 2026). The integrity of voting is also being questioned. While voter fraud can happen, it is not happening to the large extent you think based on the conversations around it. Over the last 13-30 years, the percentage of voter fraud is less than 1% (Kamarck, 2024).  If voting didn’t matter, it would not have been a fight to get the vote and it would not be a fight to keep the vote.

Voting is an important part of being a citizen. It is one way we contribute to our society and community. I vote to make the future brighter, to protect my rights, and to make my voice heard. I vote because it matters. It matters to me personally but also to my neighbors, my community, my city, my state, and my country. If you are not actively voting, I hope you reconsider! Because your voice matters too. 

The next Election Day in the United States is Tuesday, November 3rd. What to do before then?

1. Check your voter registration: visit your state’s official voter registration website and make sure you are registered to vote. Do not trust third party sites to check your registration. 
2. Register today, if you aren’t already! Each state sets voter registration deadlines so there may still be time to register AND vote in November.
3. Understand what identification is needed: check to make sure you have the required identification and any supplemental information, if needed, if you plan to vote in person.
4. Make a voting plan: are you planning to vote on Election Day? Vote by mail-in ballot? Or through early voting? Review how you can vote in your state and decide what works best for you and your schedule.
5. Research the candidates and issues: sample ballots can be found online. Review candidate positions and what issues are up for vote. Do NOT plan your vote around a TV ad! I recommend visiting candidate sites or bipartisan news outlets like the Associated Press for factual information, not political opinions. 
6. Finally, VOTE! 

References

Kamarck, E. (2024, October 24). How widespread is election fraud in the United States? Not very. Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-widespread-is-election-fraud-in-the-united-states-not-very/

Pew Research Center. (2025) https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2025/06/26/voter-turnout-2020-2024/pp-2025-6-26_validated-voters_1-01/