By: Melvin Bui
Politics have torn families apart, literally and figuratively. Some people are hesitant to vote, because they are afraid of what other people will think.
Some disregard voting, because they don’t understand it and avoid doing so to prevent headaches. People have the right not to vote, but when lives are at stake it is crucial to help support those in dire situations.
Voting is a civic duty that all citizens have the privilege of participating in, but some people don’t like to exercise their right to vote. People are taught in high school about the importance of government and are expected to be competent enough to vote.
However, some people don’t pay attention in class and probably misheard or disregarded what their teacher said to them during lectures.
People wasting their ballots is a prominent issue. Uneducated people in the past have voted for Harambe, a gorilla, in 2016 and Kanye West in 2020. These votes could have been used toward an actual competent candidate. However, they chose to play “politics” with people’s lives.
Voting is an important part of democracy, since it allows constituents to participate in the legislation making process and electing officials into office.
It is important for young people to vote because some politicians that have been in office for decades have lost touch with contemporary issues, so new competent people should be elected into office.
If people want to make a change in their community, voting is a great way to be proactive. They can vote for politicians that align with their beliefs.
Interest groups are one of the main reasons ordinary people should be weary of politicians, since they can lobby and have legislation passed that supports their endorsed enterprise.
They could donate money to a politician and expect a scratch on the back return. An example of interest group would be the National Rifle Association. The NRA advocates to maintain gun rights and aims to teach people about how to be competent gun owners.
When President Donald Trump was elected in to office, he repealed many climate change legislation and in result the coal industry and oil industry has started to see an increase in production with less restrictions.
It is plain as day that Trump is being lobbied by these corporations.
He aims to seek support from these groups by bending rules for them, expecting a scratch on the back vote in return.
People need to be more wary of who they elect into office. People often like to blame the media for priming politicians.
However, most people have the choice of what media they consume, so they should not be blaming others. Adults should not be blaming others for their careless actions.
People who don’t vote must like having everything decided for them, but then they complain afterward as if they didn’t have a choice. Voting does not seem like a big deal. However when people don’t vote it affects the lives of many and can help the agenda of corrupt politicians who have had multiple terms.
People interpret the law in various ways. The letter of the law and the spirit of the law are the two most common interpretations.
People who support the letter of law believe that it should be upheld to its full extent and always aim to be objective. Those who support the spirit of the law have a more subjective interpretation.
An example of this would be the Fourth Amendment of the constitution. It clearly says that it protects people from unreasonable search and seizures by the government, but people call it the Privacy Amendment. Politicians can have different interpretations on privacy and have mixed jurisdiction.
People are unaware of how powerful their vote can be. For example, California was once a part of Mexico and had a variety of different languages throughout the state. However in 1986, Prop. 63 made English the official language of California.
It is strange, how the United States doesn’t have an official language, but California has one.
Unnecessary propositions like this only harm people with language barriers. However, it can be prevented if people were to get proactive and vote.
Grass root movements would not exist without the support from ordinary civilians, so it’s important to remind people that their votes count.