Each election, there are those people who exclaim “That’s it. So-and-so was elected. I’m moving to Canada.”
It’s time for those people to put up or shut up. It’s time for everyone in Ohio to roll out of bed and vote, despite his or her full day of classes and busy schedule.
The BG News has laid out the ballot issues and the platforms of each major candidate. We have done our parts. It’s time for you to do yours.
“I’m just one person. My vote doesn’t really matter,” is not a justification for not voting. If you lived in any other state or county, we might tell you to just stay in bed on Nov. 6.
But, if there’s one county in one state where votes matter, it’s the one you’re getting your college education in. Wood County is considered the swing county in the biggest swing state of the 2012 elections.
We should feel lucky. How would a Liberal voter fare in Oklahoma, where Republican presidential candidate John McCain won all 77 counties against Barack Obama in 2008? Or how about a Conservative voter in Vermont in 2008, where Obama swept the Democrat vote?
The electoral college, breaking down national elections to a state-by-state basis, means that a vote cast in a swing state like Ohio fundamentally counts more than in a solidly-leaning state.
Minority opinions are at an instant disadvantage by this system of “popular vote be damned.”
But here in Ohio, we matter. Our 18 electoral college votes have warranted dozens of campaign stops by Mitt Romney and Barack Obama and more political ads than anyone can handle.
If anyone matters, it’s us. If any vote matters, its ours.
Throughout the course of the semester, students have been asked “Are you registered to vote?” countless times. These people were not trying to annoy you; they were trying to prepare you.
They might have gotten really annoying at times, but regardless of their political affiliations, they were offering to assist you.
If you snub your chance to vote, you give up your right to complain or to criticize this country.
You run the chance of losing respect from others because your missing ballot could be translated as a missing interest in the way your life is run.
Citizens of Cuba, North Korea and Vietnam do not have the right to vote. In some countries, voters are forced to vote for the current powers as a form of skewed democracy.
Students are lucky. Students don’t have to vote. Students have the freedom to vote for whomever we want.
Utilize this freedom. Don’t let this, our most basic freedom, pass by.
Everyone has a voice; let it be known Tuesday.
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