COLUMN: Citizens, unite: get out and vote
Why are registered voters so jaded these days? In-class discussions, interpersonal debates and the blog scene have revealed to me a whole new wave of political junkies, especially among the younger crowd. This just goes to show that a person’s opinion is precious to him and that he will defend it. Every man and woman likes to feel important, to feel smart or at the very least, feel that their opponent is wrong.
So why in this nation of egotists do so few vote? I have personally committed to hit the ballot box every election for the rest of my life, so I can’t say for sure. Maybe the years of apathy are already a bygone era. If voter turnout from the last election is any indication, I wouldn’t be surprised.
I know it doesn’t look this way at first, but each candidate is unique and may not represent your favorite party’s candidate and might not represent your issues. I encourage you to vote outside of your political party whenever they represent your views better.
It’s all too easy to go Democrat or Republican down the line. One of the obstructions of the democratic process is impulse voting. Know who your candidates are and why you are voting for them.
You might only have one physical vote at your disposal, but also at every appropriate opportunity discuss politics – you know you are tired of talking about the weather, Aggie sports, or your terrible weekend anyway.
Make a voter pact with a friend. Remember in kindergarten when you got paired up with someone else so that if both of you got lost you’d be lost together? Same idea here, except don’t get lost, win. Go to the booths together on election day and then go out to lunch. Go crazy; get vocal; yes, there still is time. If it takes shaving your head or eating a goldfish to get your friends to the ballot box, do it. What more can I do to get you to vote?
Do not forget your family. I know you might disagree with your parents on politics, but more of what you say will stick to them than anything you say to a complete stranger.
Fight for equal representation. Enough of the packing and cracking votes with congressional districts, it’s wrong. We can fight gerrymandering in Utah, maybe not this election season, but in the future. Utahns are going to have to come to terms with the fact that there are liberals in their midst who can’t ultimately be suppressed.
Carving and redistributing our votes to out-republican us won’t make us go away. You’re going to have to redistrict Utah eventually, and if we don’t roll over then, liberals, at least the ones in Salt Lake County can be heard again.
One of my personal concerns for this year is election fraud. It’s the first year that Utahns will cast their vote electronically free of that ever-so-pesky paper trail. There is absolutely no reason why these machines can’t print receipts to be kept under lock and key in the event of election fraud or computer virus. I think I could vote with more confidence if I knew there were no back doors to my ballot.
I know for the Democrats or liberals on campus it feels like an exercise of futility to vote when every man, his bishop and his dog will be voting Republican. But if we refuse to fight, then maybe we deserve to lose because we certainly aren’t ever succeeding with that strategy.
Conducting a successful liberal campaign in Utah isn’t going to come without misses. Focus now on the micro level, convert a friend and do not forget to vote.
Class dismissed.
Matthew Blackham is a junior majoring in sociology. Comments can be sent to matblackham@cc.usu.edu.