Commentary: Why I believe in voting

I think everyone should vote, but not for the aggravating script we’ve heard over the last two decades. I think people should vote because they matter, their lives matter, their voice matters, and they deserve to be heard. 

I say this as someone who isn’t partisan and has spent my adult life being disappointed in a political system that continues to grow more toxic and divisive every year. With each election cycle asking us to vote for the lesser of two evils and never the better of two goods. 

I cannot stress enough that people in their 30s and younger are disillusioned by a government that clearly doesn’t seem to work for us. And it’s difficult to believe things can get better when we’re exhausted working multiple jobs, taking care of our families, worried for our friends, and getting harassed by endless text messages, spam calls and attack ads. 

Politics is a mess, and it isn’t a surprise that our voter turnout in North Dakota for the 2022 midterm was 42.9%. Why waste a perfectly good night standing in line to vote for a system that treats you like a number, while life feels like it’s getting worse each day regardless of who is in charge?

So, why vote? Why participate in a system that is this awful? That’s the question a lot of younger folks think about all the time.  

The answer I would give is that voting isn’t about the system. It isn’t about the politician or issue. It’s about you. We’re a democracy, and that means you get a voice. This year there is a chance for people to choose if we give free school meals to kids or not, where your voice can change North Dakota for generations to come. 

A vote, by itself, is often not a particularly powerful thing. However, the act of voting is tremendously powerful as it sends the message that there are people who haven’t given up yet. That democracy is still alive. That people still believe in the potential for us to be better than we are now.

I think people should vote because it’s an act of resistance to fascism. I think they should vote because even if that vote doesn’t make tomorrow better, we feel better when we try, even if we end up losing. We feel more hopeful and resilient through the act of doing something than never trying or giving up.

The world does not change tomorrow because we voted, but the act of voting can change who we are and how we see ourselves.

When we invest in ourselves by paying attention to our democracy, participating in it, and demanding better before, during, and after elections than we do get somewhere different and hopefully better. Vote because you matter, vote to say that you matter, and hold the system to account afterwards.  

All information on voting, where to vote, how to vote, and where candidates stand can be found through the League of Women Voters’ Vote411 guide.