Column: Not voting isn’t the flex you think it is

Column: Not voting isn’t the flex you think it is

Don’t get me wrong, it is easy to understand the basis behind feeling that you can’t morally support one candidate or the other, but besides the moral crisis our country is falling under at the moment, there are other things on the ballot that can change our lives.

The Knight Foundation reported that in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, around 43% of eligible voters did not cast ballots.

There is a lot at stake this election and it is natural not wanting to get things wrong, but this is a genuine moment in history that people are going to look back on and you don’t want to say that you just stood there quiet.

Proposition 18 concerns election policy, including campaign finance, election dates, election systems, redistricting, suffrage, and term limits. There are 13 other states with similar measures on the ballot.

According to BallotPedia.org, statewide measures include the first-ever appearance of gig-economy policies on a statewide ballot, unique psilocybin mushroom use and drug-crime policy measures, wolf reintroduction, a veto referendum on cash bail, and state flag and state name change measures proposed after the killing of George Floyd.

With all of the recent protests and awakenings that have been occurring in the United States, this is one of the most important times to get as many people as possible registered and to the polls because we the people have the power to change what does not serve us.

People want to use the excuse that their vote doesn’t matter, or that their state is already blue or red so there is no point, but that is far from the truth. Not only is it a civic duty, but arguably a moral one as well.

There was a time where people were losing their lives just for the opportunity to cast a ballot, so we shouldn’t take this right for granted.

You can be the change you wish to see in the world, one ballot at a time.