“I Still Fucking Vote” Call for Reader Submissions

I vote in large part because I know quite well that people in decades and centuries past died both because they couldn’t, and so that I could. Taking that for granted would be the height of arrogance and ignorance.

Yeah, it’s corny and sappy, but it’s also true. We love that kind of thing in the movies, so why is it uncool to get all choked up about it in real life? Both the ancient and the modern world are chock-full of societies where voting simply was not an option for some or any of the governed.

Walking into a local school to find the cafeteria or gymnasium transformed into a polling place with a nice turnout of fellow residents never fails to bring a broad smile to my face. I walk out into the early November Ohio air feeling positive about my country, my neighbors, my community, and my lot in the course of history. 

The peaceful and orderly transfer of power is not a given, historically.

Are those I vote for likely to win in my blood-red precinct/district? Nope. But making my vote part of the 30-49 percent that went to the non-winning candidate still lets now isolated or dispirited independents and liberals know that I’m here. 

My vote is a warm, but encouraging rebuke that says, “There are more of us. If you show up next time, maybe we’ll win. So get off the couch, you slacker. Make the time.”

Why NOT make our elected representatives work for our votes? Why give any candidate or party a monopoly on power, allowing some random sad sack to seize the reins of local governance by default because they have the backing of one party or the other? When races are contested and there’s the slightest chance of a come-from-behind win, we make the other party spread resources thinner, think about what people want, and account for it in their campaign strategies. We give candidates in other, closer races more financial backing by costing the other side some campaign cash.

Better yet, if we impose consequences for promises not kept and constituents ignored, we may eventually demand attention from those in the halls of power, township trustees all the way to the top. In the big scheme of things, the only way to make elected representatives accountable is to ensure that there are very real consequences to not delivering for the people — and we do that by hiring a new person with our votes.

The power of any “state” derives from the people, the consent of the governed. We’ll each be subject to whoever wins, so it’s insanity NOT to speak up about just who that will be.

Vote, dammit. Like it or not, we’re all on the battlefield of politics. The question is in what role: participant or collateral damage.

I vote because my great-grandmother couldn’t. She died before she had the chance. 

[...] First part here. Joan’s fantastic comment is found here. [...]