It is not only true that voting actually matters but it also necessary for the country to function. But before we get to the major impact of one person’s vote, we have to see the impact of voting in general. Voting is the only way for a democracy to function. Voting keeps politicians accountable. It is not a coincidence that a tyrant rises by abridging and abolishing the right to vote. They know that voting is a threat to their tyrannical power and try to get rid of it. Voting is also the way get issues solved. Since voting is the only way officials are elected in this country, voting is the only way in which you can directly affect who is in power.

It has been said that one person’s vote does not matter, but that is completely false. They try to argue that leads in voting are so big, that one person will not change an election. In arguing this, they are missing a few major points. In preparing to vote, people research issues. Even though thirty percent of people voting do in-depth research, a huge majority of the people who do the research do it only because they are going to vote. People learn about issues indirectly from voting. In saying that one person’s vote is pointless, they are arguing that people should be ignorant on issues and trust blindly in the people in power to solve the issues. This knowledge keeps people in power responsible. If they do not vote, why would people care about an issue or person if they could in no way affect it?

Also, if everyone had the mindset that my vote does not matter, there would be no voting and one vote would theoretically make the difference in every election. Voting also is the only real way to solve political problems. The only way to elect a candidate to office is through voting, there is NO other way. If you do not vote, you give up the only real way to put people in office. Sure, you can publicly support a candidate, but it is all meaningless without voting. There are strong arguments that Donald Trump won the 2016 election not because he had more supporters, but his supporters, unlike Hillary Clinton’s supporters, came out to vote. Think about these implications. Think about your friends and family. Many do not vote, and many can be convinced to vote a certain way. It is no longer one vote we are talking about but many.

Also, think about it this way. Think about the millions of Americans who died to let you vote, and therefore chose your political leaders. You probably have family members who served in wars and risked their lives, all to keep our democracy. This does not in any way mean that voting is a chore that we should not participate in. It how to choose the best leaders, to make the country a better place. If you do not, you give up the only way to put people in power, and therefore, you cannot complain who is in power. Also, there are so many close races where the outcome can easily be affected by your voting. According to FOX news polls published on October 31^st, the senate races in Missouri and Arizona are exactly tied, 43/43 % and 46/46%. To say Connecticut is a safe blue state is also false. The state senate is tied, with the same number of Republicans as Democrats. The most ludicrous argument that you should not vote is because doing other things like napping contributes more to the GDP. This implies you make every choice to do the best thing for the GDP. Do you really watch a movie because it contributes more to the GDP, or go to a specific restaurant because it contributes more to the GDP than another one? Also, voting helps solve every political issue from white supremacy to the national debt, something watching The Office instead of voting will never do.  At the end of the day, if writing an article about not voting will not change anyone’s opinions enough to cause change, why write the article in the first place? Remember, Hitler was elected the head of his party by one vote.