In 2016, approximately 60% of eligible voters cast their ballots in the presidential election. Which makes me wonder, “What were the other 40% doing that day?”  Did they all get lost on the way to the polls?  Were many of them stuck under a large piece of furniture?  What exactly was keeping them from meeting their civic responsibility to vote?

In our country, we like to talk a lot about our rights as citizens.  We have the right to free speech.  We have the right to buy guns.  We have the right to remain silent and not incriminate ourselves.  But we are loath to talk about our responsibilities as citizens.

Part of living in a democracy means that you have a responsibility to participate in elections. This responsibility is an important one.  When everyone votes, that allows our country to elect government officials who accurately reflect our American values.  Otherwise, we risk electing leaders who are unqualified, either intellectually or morally, to lead.

In the 2016 election, I heard a lot of very poor reasons for why people didn’t vote. Some people said that they didn’t “like” either candidate.  Really?  This isn’t high school.  Elections aren’t a search for the king and queen of the prom.  They aren’t popularity contests.  Elections essentially are job interviews, and a candidate either has the experience and demeanor for the job, or he or she doesn’t.

Sometimes people complain that they can’t take the day off work. Well, you don’t have to.  You can vote by mail.  My elderly mother votes by mail for every election.  If an 83-year-old lady can figure out how to vote by mail, so can you.

We are no longer living in a world in which we can be complacent about choosing our leaders. If the last two years has taught us anything, it is that by not voting, we can end up with leaders who don’t reflect our American values, and who don’t even understand what it means to be American.

We can end up with leaders who don’t understand that we are a country that was created by immigrants, and it is the immigrant tenacity which has made our country great. We can end up with leaders who don’t think that women should have authority over their own bodies.  We can end up with leaders who don’t understand that the United States is supposed be a beacon of morality, and that it is our duty to help those who are less fortunate and suffering, no matter where they may be on the globe.

So tomorrow, meet your responsibility as a citizen and vote. Your opinion and your vote matters.

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