Blog 5: My Motivation for Voting
This blog is primarily dedicated to examining how social media affected the voting process of U.S. citizens last year's election. But I would feel that I did an injustice if I didn't explain my voting process. Last year was my first chance to vote.
I didn't vote.
There are a lot of things you could say to that immediately. You don't care about politics! You have to vote as a U.S. citizen, it's your obligation! You're the reason why Trump one! You had the ability to do something important and you didn't! You're the problem with America, young people don't participate politically!
All of these were statements I heard when I told people I didn't vote. I heard them from friends and family. I heard them from professors. But I stand behind my decision not to vote. It was a decision. It wasn't because I was too lazy or anything like that.
I do care about politics. It's not my favorite thing in the world, but I recognize the significance of it. As a journalist, political coverage is one of the biggest parts of my job. As an eagle scout, I learned about proper citizenship in the community, the nation, and the world. As an IB graduate, I learned about the history of politics in America. I care about politics.
I do have the right to vote as a U.S. citizen. It is my obligation. However, it is also a choice. No where does it read that every citizen has to vote. If it did, the voter turnout would be millions higher every election. You can choose who to vote for, or who not to vote for.
I chose not to vote.
Why?
I did not believe in any of the candidates. That's as simple as it is. Bernie's plans would have increased my taxes tremendously for programs I don't care about. I did not give a thought to voting for him because I would rather give my money to things that are more important to me- like college, tithing, or gas to drive home every now and then.
I did not trust Hillary in the slightest. Someone who lies to the country and shares confidential information with others should not be the leader of the country in my opinion. I'm not saying that she's a bad person, she just made mistakes, and I wouldn't trust her with being in charge of the nation.
Trump had dozens of red flags, from the way he made fun of the disabled reporter, to his extremely controversial Twitter account. He made so many claims that were inaccurate, it was hard to know when he was right.
Of the third party candidates, I only sided with them on a few issues. Most issues, such as gun control, I did not. I'm not going to vote for someone who I don't agree with on the majority of issues.
That's why I didn't vote. It's as simple as that. That's all the reason anyone needs. If you vote for someone who you don't agree with on a majority of important issues, it's a mistake in my opinion. People are blinded by their pride and party loyalty to a fault. I had family that voted for Trump even though they disagreed with him on most every issue just because he was the Republican candidate. My brother voted for Hillary even though he posted hundreds of things saying how terrible she was in the primaries, because he didn't want Trump to win.
I heard hundreds of people say the same exact thing last year. If you don't vote, that's a vote for Trump. If you don't vote, that's a vote for Hillary. If you vote for a third party candidate, you're wasting your vote.
People need to stop being blinded by party loyalty to the point where they feel like they have to vote for a candidate they don't like or agree with. Not voting is perfectly alright. If there is a candidate you believe in, vote for them, but if not, just abstain.
I didn't vote.
There are a lot of things you could say to that immediately. You don't care about politics! You have to vote as a U.S. citizen, it's your obligation! You're the reason why Trump one! You had the ability to do something important and you didn't! You're the problem with America, young people don't participate politically!
All of these were statements I heard when I told people I didn't vote. I heard them from friends and family. I heard them from professors. But I stand behind my decision not to vote. It was a decision. It wasn't because I was too lazy or anything like that.
I do care about politics. It's not my favorite thing in the world, but I recognize the significance of it. As a journalist, political coverage is one of the biggest parts of my job. As an eagle scout, I learned about proper citizenship in the community, the nation, and the world. As an IB graduate, I learned about the history of politics in America. I care about politics.
I do have the right to vote as a U.S. citizen. It is my obligation. However, it is also a choice. No where does it read that every citizen has to vote. If it did, the voter turnout would be millions higher every election. You can choose who to vote for, or who not to vote for.
I chose not to vote.
Why?
I did not believe in any of the candidates. That's as simple as it is. Bernie's plans would have increased my taxes tremendously for programs I don't care about. I did not give a thought to voting for him because I would rather give my money to things that are more important to me- like college, tithing, or gas to drive home every now and then.
I did not trust Hillary in the slightest. Someone who lies to the country and shares confidential information with others should not be the leader of the country in my opinion. I'm not saying that she's a bad person, she just made mistakes, and I wouldn't trust her with being in charge of the nation.
Trump had dozens of red flags, from the way he made fun of the disabled reporter, to his extremely controversial Twitter account. He made so many claims that were inaccurate, it was hard to know when he was right.
Of the third party candidates, I only sided with them on a few issues. Most issues, such as gun control, I did not. I'm not going to vote for someone who I don't agree with on the majority of issues.
That's why I didn't vote. It's as simple as that. That's all the reason anyone needs. If you vote for someone who you don't agree with on a majority of important issues, it's a mistake in my opinion. People are blinded by their pride and party loyalty to a fault. I had family that voted for Trump even though they disagreed with him on most every issue just because he was the Republican candidate. My brother voted for Hillary even though he posted hundreds of things saying how terrible she was in the primaries, because he didn't want Trump to win.
I heard hundreds of people say the same exact thing last year. If you don't vote, that's a vote for Trump. If you don't vote, that's a vote for Hillary. If you vote for a third party candidate, you're wasting your vote.
People need to stop being blinded by party loyalty to the point where they feel like they have to vote for a candidate they don't like or agree with. Not voting is perfectly alright. If there is a candidate you believe in, vote for them, but if not, just abstain.
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