The mid-term elections are coming up within two weeks and our home received a sample ballot with a booklet with information about candidates and propositions within our home state, California. This year’s mid-term elections appears to be much more important than any previous mid-term elections. This is probably due to the major coverage provided on the elections from the media & social networks.

Unfortunately mid-term elections bring about a lower turnout than the national presidential elections. Imagine how low of a turn-out mid-term elections bring when only half the nation’s population vote in the main presidential elections. Only 56% of the American electorate voted in the 2016 Presidential Election. Of course, this may not be the case with this year’s mid-term election simply because of the different circumstances we have surrounding Washington & state-level politics.

With that in mind, here are several reasons why I believe we, as Americans, should vote:

We have the Right to Vote.
The United States of America is a republic where we, as citizens of our native states, have the ability to pick and choose our leaders without fear of persecution or oppression. We have the right to speak against and for those leaders with our freedom of speech which is protected by the First Amendment. The right to vote as existed within our nation ever since it’s birth and creation.

Consider many countries around the world today. There are still to this day, in the 21st century, who do not have the right or freedom to vote their own conscience without fear of being arrested, harassed, and even executed in certain cases. We should not abuse and neglect our privilege and right to vote when so many citizens and natives around the entire world may not exactly have those same privileges and rights concerning their countries’ national elections.

We have the Reason to Vote.
Like the first point, we have a reason to vote. We can pick and choose our leaders who we believe have the best interests of our neighborhood, state, and country when heading out to Washington. If for some reason we are not satisfied with our chosen and elected politicians, we can choose to remove them and elect another individual that may better represent their constituents.

So if you are not satisfied with how your representative is voting in Sacramento or Washington, you have a reason to vote for the opponent. If you are satisfied, you have a reason to vote for your incumbent candidate to stay in office for the presidential or mid-term election.

Likewise, we have the ability to choose which propositions we would like to see take effect within our state. Certain propositions will change certain laws within our state and community. Other propositions are solely used to reverse previously created propositions.

We have the Responsibility to Vote.
To be honest, the fact that only half of our nation voted for the previous presidential election saddens and disappoints me. My family has always voted in every election whether it is at the polling station or submitting an early or absentee ballot. We immigrated here from South Korea during a time when Korea was under the oppression of a military coup (1970s under President Park Chung-Hee). Obviously elections in Korea were rigged and the people’s voice did not matter at all. However that is not the case in the United States. The people’s voice matter and each vote counts. How?

Well let’s go back 2 years. Now before I continue, we must remember that the United States is a republic not a full on democracy where we vote in the President by the popular vote. He or she is elected to the highest position of government in America through the Electoral College. Yes, Donald Trump lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by 2-3 million votes. However, Donald Trump won the election by winning more electoral votes. A case can be made that the votes by those in California did not matter but that does not mean that your vote does not matter at all. The votes in the following states mattered tremendously as they shaped the electoral results by the end of that election night. These states included Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Florida. Each and every vote were crucially important in deciding the outcome of who would become the 45th President of the United States.

Now let’s go down the ballot list. This year, we will be voting in the Senators, House of Representatives, the State Assemblymen, State Senators, Judges, Councilperson, etc. Votes for these individuals are incredibly important in shaping our state’s legislative branch and our legislative branch in Washington. Your individual vote will determine which party gains/loses control of either/both the Senate and the House. That is important because it is through the Senate and the House, certain legislative bills and amendments are passed or rejected.

So vote on November 6th 2018. Your vote matters and don’t take advantage of the freedom you are given as a citizen of these amazing United States of America.