First Person: I’m Abstaining From Voting

*Note: This was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Do you have a story that you’d like to share? Sign up with the Yahoo! Contributor Network to start publishing your own finance articles.

COMMENTARY | When I was younger, I was more pragmatic and idealistic about one day making my mark on the world and having others hear my voice. I was ready to turn eighteen and to be recognized as an adult with the freedom and privileges afforded to one such as voting. I followed politics more closely than I do now and watched my leaders and their decisions. In the last four and a half years, I have not yet voted for a mayor, senator, state governor, or president of my country.

To me, voting has filtered into the back of my mind like a unfulfilled dream. Among the millions of votes in this country, I have come to understand and realize that my vote will not be counted towards the bigger goal of seeing my candidate win. In the bigger picture, my vote would not have served any real purpose to effect the position of my candidate best suited for the job. I once thought the guise of voting was to pick a candidate I thought would make the best policies for our government and lead our government to better prosperity. After time, I came to see my idea as flawed. My voice was in a sea of millions and would not be heard even if I shouted.

Some people state that voting is a civic duty, but it really is nothing more than a civic right. In the last few years, I have come to believe the fruits of my labor would be better spent trying to make smaller changes in my community and more localized areas of government. Currently, I am very dissatisfied with the way voting has been portrayed in the last several years and cannot change my view now that I am not satisfied with the current political system.

I do care about the place I live in and worry everyday about the places our country could held. The Electoral College in the past has had more say in electing the president than each individual has in the state. The voting process has just become a fallen and unattainable idea for me. Among the many candidates, I see running I can never get a good idea of who would best run. Voting has just become a negative battleground. The voting process has just become a fallen and unattainable idea for me.


People also view

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *