Here’s WHY Your VOTE Really Does Matter

How many times (be honest) have you said, “Oh, I’m not voting because my vote doesn’t matter?” 

That’s such a sad statement coming from any American citizen.

The first reason it is sad is that it reflects how apathetic our society has become. The second reason is that it is patently untrue. Let us first address the “it doesn’t count” issue.

Many don’t seem to think that their vote counts because of the “Electoral College.” Let’s address this issue. 

THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE

The Electoral College is comprised of how many United States Congressmen a state has, plus the two United States Senators. For instance, Texas has 36 Congressional Representatives and 2 Senators. This gives the Lone Star State 38 electoral votes. 

How do they vote? If the Republican candidate “wins” the popular vote, then the “Electors” vote for that Republican. In this case, if Trump wins the popular vote in Texas, the Electoral College will vote their 38 votes for Trump. It doesn’t matter that El Paso’s Congressional Representative is a Democrat; he or she will still vote for the winning candidate who took the popular vote.  

REMEMBER FLORIDA?

In case you’re too young or your memory is cloudy, let’s revisit Bush v Gore in Florida.

Then-candidate George W. Bush had been pronounced the loser in Florida early in the evening back in November of 2000. Then came the Panhandle vote, and all the networks pronounced him the winner of Florida. 

The election was literally within a couple of electoral votes of each other, with neither candidate able to command 270 votes (the amount needed to win). The Presidency rests on Florida. The Sunshine State was going to be the deciding factor. 

After the smoke cleared because of ‘counts, recounts, chads, court cases, a Supreme Court verdict’ and much more ballyhoo, Bush was finally declared the winner. 

Do you remember the vote count? Out of millions of votes casts that night, President George W. Bush won by a meager 537 votes. That’s right, America, 537 voters determined the outcome of a Presidential election. Some 150,000,000 votes cast, and only 537 decided the next four years for our nation. 

STILL, THINK YOU DON’T MATTER?

Remember Michigan in 2016? The Wolverine State ended with being too close to call in 2016. The recount had Donald J. Trump winning by some 10,000 votes. Actually, I think it might have been less than that. Wisconsin performed very closely to the same as did Pennsylvania. All of these states had razor-thin margins for Trump. 

In Michigan, it came to less than 2 votes per precinct. 

Yep, less than two votes per precinct decided Michigan, which played a huge role in President Trump’s victory.  

STILL, THINK YOU DON’T MATTER? 

If you still think your vote doesn’t matter, then I will appeal to your patriotism.

I am going to make an assumption here. I am going to assume that you have a father or grandfather that served in the military. I will assume further that the likelihood is great that the service member who did serve did so during a war setting. If you need help with this, rent the movie “Saving Private Ryan” and watch the first 30-minutes of it. It is regarded as the most depiction ever created for the big screen of what actual war is like. 

After watching Saving Private Ryan, I would like you to visit a national cemetery. Most larger cities have one. I would like you to take a very reverent stroll through those hundreds and sometimes thousands of white grave markers. Then I want you to tell them, “My vote doesn’t count!“

America, your vote does count, and the brave young men and women lying in those National Cemeteries did not end up there for you to be lazy and apathetic about voting. They gave their lives so you could have the privilege cast a ballot.

Those young men did not sit in foxholes in the mud, cold or heat, and fear for their lives, so you could sit on the couch, eating Cheetos, and complaining about the election outcome. 

Now get up off your lazy, apathetic asses, go down, register, and vote next Tuesday. Remember this; they didn’t pay the ultimate price either for socialism. They paid the price, so we had freedom, liberty, a 1st and 2nd Amendment, and the right to live in the greatest nation on earth. 

Remember that next Tuesday!

By Ken Crow,
Your Fellow Voting American Citizen
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