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The Denver Post titled this "Your Vote Can Make A Difference" Sunday, February 27, 2000
"The vast majority of America’s problems stem from an underlying source: the disengagement of average people from their country’s political process." So said author Marianne Williamson, and many people agree. Is there a more futile battle in the U.S. than trying to convince the uninterested to vote? Yet politics affects everything we do, from before birth to beyond death. I suspect that the majority of people who read the Op-Ed pages already vote, but for those who are not convinced it matters, let us try again. In a column published after the last election, Sue O’Brien expressed hope for a miracle to transform public apathy into a pulling together toward a common good. A few weeks later, letter writer Robert McDonald responded that this apathy "reflects the general knowledge that the individual citizen knows there is little he or she can do to influence the way in which our government operates…Citizens are wise enough to not waste thought, energy and involvement with such matters. They prefer to devote such activities to earning a living or having fun." Many of the large number of eligible voters who don’t vote use Mr. McDonald’s argument to justify their lack of involvement. It does take a little thought and energy to be a knowledgeable citizen, and might even take 15 minutes out of your fun time to walk into the polling place and punch those buttons. But can one person make a difference? You’ve all heard these examples: · In 1776, one vote gave the United States English as the official language (instead of German). · Both Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adams were elected president by one vote margins in the electoral college. · A single vote brought Texas, California, Oregon, and Washington into the Union. · In 1923, Adolf Hitler became leader of the Nazi party by a single vote. If those examples seem too remote, consider these: · In 1991, a controversial sales-tax increase in Golden passed by 11 votes. · In the last election, the partial-birth abortion ban lost by an average of 12 votes per precinct; · and Gail Schoettler lost to Bill Owens by an average of 1.5 votes per precinct. Two more voters for Schoettler in each precinct and our state would be heading in a different direction, so it is obvious that one individual can enhance or degrade the common good. If enough individuals got involved, even those most beholden to special interests would pay attention. Our elected representatives would respond with alacrity if 90% of the registered voters in his or her district contacted him or her about an issue. If only 10% bother to voice their opinion, then yes, the special interest money is probably going to carry more weight. Of course we don’t always get the results we want. You don’t like Clinton? I didn’t like Reagan. But the majority of voters chose him and I lived with it for eight years. That’s how it goes in a democracy. I did a voter registration walk before the last election and on a peaceful street on Denver’s west side I came upon two men working on a vehicle. I said, "Hey, are you registered to vote?" One of them said, "I don’t vote." I said, "Why not?" He said, "I don’t like the way things are and until they change, I’m not going to vote." I walked on, wondering how he thought this change was going to come about. Maybe someone will read his mind and fix what he doesn’t like? Mr. McDonald and that man on the west side remind me of the often-quoted Ogden Nash poem:
I love to vote. Corny as it sounds, I am thrilled at the privilege every time I step into the voting booth. And whatever the results, I feel like McMurtry in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest," when he was unable to rip out the fountain: Yeah, but I tried. At least I tried. # # #
Copyright © 2004
Helen Williams
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