Why is Voting Important Anyways???

As we start our voter engagement projects, I think it is important to reflect on why voting is important in the first place. Below are my thoughts on voting, but I understand that voting is meaningful in many different ways to different people. I encourage you to share your own thoughts on why voting is important in the comments section.

Too often I hear people, especially young people, say, “Why vote when it doesn’t really matter anyways?” They feel disenfranchised and that the system is broken, so why bother getting involved? Many do not see any benefit from the representatives they elect, and often times do not see much of a difference between candidates. I understand these sentiments to a point, but voting does in fact matter. History has shown that only a few votes can change elections, change people, change events, and alter the course of humanity.

People often underestimate the power that they have, leading them to become cynical of the system. When I was a student government president, students would often remark how useless a student government was because we had no “real” power. Although these students were partially correct - student governments often have very few delegated powers - students always have powers in numbers and influence. If enough people become motivated about an issue, they can invoke lasting change.

Even in presidential elections, it can only take a few people to make a difference. Take the 2000 presidential election for example: only 537 votes separated George W. Bush and Al Gore in Florida, meaning that only 269 votes could have changed the outcome of the entire presidential election. Similarly, in 1876, only 445 votes in South Carolina could have swung the election between Rutherford Hayes and Samuel Tilden, and in 1884 only 575 votes in New York could have made a difference between Grover Cleveland and James Blaine. Out of the last 43 presidential elections, five could have been changed by less than 2,000 votes, while eleven could have been changed by less than 10,000 votes. (Sheppard1)

Given the fact that there are well over 600,000 students in Ohio, new student voters can determine the outcome in Ohio and very likely, the outcome of the entire presidential election in 2008. It is important to note that these examples are only from presidential elections. Imagine how many examples there are of close local and statewide elections in which only a few votes made a difference. One group’s registration efforts in a community can determine the outcome of any number of elections, starting from city council all the way up to the presidency.

In reality, however, this project is not about any one given election, local or presidential, or even about elections in general. This project is not even about the act of voting. Yes, our means and our goals of this project do center on getting more young people to vote in the November election, but the important outcome at the end of this one election cycle, will be to get students to engage in a lifetime of active citizenship. I asked Alex Keyssar, the Matthew W. Stirling, Jr., Professor of History and Social Policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and an expert on democracy and voting, “Why is voting important?” His thoughts were:

Voting isn't important, per se – by itself, as an act in and of itself. But it is important to stay tuned in to what is happening in the world around you, what the state is doing, what policies are being adopted. It is important to try to understand what those things are and how they do affect you (because they do). Once you do that, you'll be likely to vote – because you'll see that it might well matter.

This project is about a lifetime of political engagement, of which voting is an essential part. President Lyndon Johnson said, “Voting is the first duty of democracy.” Voting is one act of political engagement but being an engaged citizen is much more. As I wrote in the first paragraph, voting means different things to different people. The point is: be an enlightened citizen and find what passion brings you to the polls. Abraham Lincoln said, “Elections belong to the people. It is their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”

People cannot ignore the world around them. If someone doesn’t like what they see, then they should change it and the first place to start is at the polls.

1. https://www.msu.edu/~sheppa28/elections.html#2000

Introduction: Let's Get Started!

Hello, and welcome to the blog of Ohio Campus Compact’s initiative to get more college students to vote in the upcoming 2008 election. Voting is an essential part of citizenship and democracy. Too often, however, people between the ages of 18 to 24 feel disenfranchised and do not fulfill their duty to vote.

Ohio Campus Compact understands this and is working with many partners to raise awareness in Ohio to ensure Ohio’s colleges and universities are doing their part to energize these voters. We also understand that we cannot plan events for almost 140 colleges and universities. Instead, we are working collaboratively with our partners to help institutions plan events on their own campuses.

Our roll is to be the information gatherers, data collectors, facilitators, and collaborators.

At this writing, there are only 111 days left until the general election on November 4^th. This election has already proved seminal. In the 2000 primary (the last primary with both major parties conducting a competitive primary) only 15% of people age 18-29 voted. In the 2008 primary, that increased to 25%! More and more young people are also realizing that the actions of our leaders today on issues such as climate change, social security solvency, fiscal deficits, and energy independence, affect our lives many years from now,

In Ohio, voter turnout of people age 18-24 has also been increasing. In the 2000 general election, only 42% showed up to the polls. In 2004, this increased a full 13 percentage points to 55%. At the end of this cycle I am confident we will be able to look back and say that we again saw an increase in voter turnout, which was at least partly due to our efforts.

This goal can not be reached unless every school is engaged in this initiative. This is why I decided to create this blog. I will be calling each school individually and sending information to them to help with their voter engagement activities, but this blog can definitely help. With this blog, we can keep everybody together on a more constant basis and act as a hub of information for Ohio voter engagement activities. I plan to post resources, discuss activities occurring on various campuses, and encouraging a dialog on how we can improve our activities.

In the meantime, please check out http://www.compact.org/vote/, http://www.yourvoteyourvoice.org/, and http://www.declareyourself.com/.

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to post a comment. You can also email me at Kyle.Bohland@yahoo.com

Thank for your interest and I look forward to working with you!

Kyle Bohland