Voting is a right as well as a privilege.
Those who don’t vote should not complain about the outcome of an election and the consequences.
According to The National Constitution Center, “[T]he right to vote has long been considered one of the cherished freedoms key to American democracy.”
Beginning in the 1700s, the Founding Fathers crafted the process of voting to give people a voice in the government.
However, those rights were limited to white Christian men.
In the ensuing years, many people fought to expand those rights to include all men, including Black people.
In the 19th century, activists became determined to extend those rights to women. According to the National Archives, suffragists “practiced civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change in the Constitution – guaranteeing women the right to vote.”
Theoretically, all American citizens over the age of 21 had earned the right to vote.
Many states suppressed the rights of minority groups and silenced their voices.
In 1965, the Voting Rights Act was signed into law by former President Lyndon B. Johnson in an attempt to guarantee voting rights to all eligible citizens.
In 1971, the 26th Amendment was passed, lowering the voting age to 18.
Due to countless efforts over many years, the voting process has been drastically changed to increase access for anyone who wanted to vote.
The system seems to have nearly achieved its desired goal.
According to the Los Angeles Times, “final election results in 2020 show almost 17.8 million Californians cast ballots in the election that ended on Nov. 3, the highest percentage of eligible voters to participate in a statewide election since 1952 and the third-highest percentage since 1910.”
That translates to approximately 70% of all eligible voters.
Based on recent events (the 2020 election deniers), not everyone is satisfied with the voting process.
Admittedly, it is not perfect but life is seldom perfect.
Voters who want to enact change are encouraged to exercise their right and privilege.
Voters have the opportunity to elect their representatives and decide on important issues such as abortion, crime and the economy.
Last week, voters in several states sent clear messages through the ballot boxes and were rewarded accordingly. According to ABC news, Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito (W.VA) expressed her views on the election results by stating, “When people vote their voice is heard and I think that’s what happened.”
There will be many important wide-ranging decisions for voters next year that will have a dramatic impact on their daily lives. There are ballot propositions that would change how the California government enacts laws, the increase of minimum wage and rent control regulations.
There is also the issue of choosing the next president of the United States.
American citizens are eligible to vote thanks to the laborious actions of countless people who made sacrifices to enact voting rights.
Voting has become simplified. The voting window has been opened from one day to two weeks. Voters can also cast their ballots by mail weeks in advance.
There is no valid reason for voters to not have their voices heard and to affect change through the hard-earned right to vote.
