If you’ve recently turned on a television, you may have noticed several political advertisements being broadcast. In case you didn’t know, elections are taking place on November 8. The ads airing in Virginia seem to be about everything from pranks to slamming the other opponent.
Whether you’re Republican or Democrat, this midterm election will determine which party (Democrat or Republican) will gain control of the Senate, what will have major impact on what legislation will be passed, and how legislation can affect the citizens of the United States.
To be honest, voting can be annoying. If you are registered in Virginia you generally have to take the time to go somewhere to vote or if you are an out of state kid like me you have a strict timeline for registering to vote via absentee ballot. While it can be challenging to vote, it is a crucial right as a US citizen that we should all participate in. Besides the fact that so many people have died and fought (both in wars and in social movements) for the right of everyone to vote, we really have the opportunity to really make a difference. We have the opportunity to influence the entire Senate. Regardless of your political affiliation, you want your party to succeed and this is the chance to really make that happen.
It’s important to note that just because we don’t elect a president this year, midterm elections still hold a lot of power. It can be somewhat of a predictor of who can run for president; it can be a predictor of which party can win the presidency. Midterm elections act almost like a poll for us citizens; we get to see where our politicians currently stand on issues and define which issues mean the most to us.
As college students, we deal with things like student loan interest, the economy, and unemployment. While these are hot issues in our political sphere, we actually have the opportunity to change them. Louis L’Armour once said, “For democracy to work, we need to be a notion of participants, not just observers. Someone who doesn’t vote has no right to complain.”
I fully understand that it can be difficult and annoying to go through the trouble of going out and voting, but it is really beneficial for you and the effort should be made to go.
And who doesn’t want a “I voted” sticker?