Stavya Week 9: The Power of a Vote

 I Voted” stickers for the 2018 midterm elections: Print these at home.

Image from slate.com on Google

With the presidential election coming up this year, voting has once again become a hot topic, as debates regarding the political power we have as citizens of the nation have resurfaced. While voting is the only right that the common people have to directly influence the political state of our country, some consider this right as a mere formality. If you think about it, how much power does a single vote even have?


According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 154.6 million people voted for the 2020 presidential election, over 17 million more than the 2016 presidential election. The most logical conclusion from these numbers is that a single vote has little, if any, impact on the outcome of the elections. Why would it matter if just one more person voted, considering that millions of people voted before them?


Although this seems like a valid argument, it is the reason that, according to the article How Much Power do Voters Have? from Statistics.com, 37% of the voting age population in America did not vote for the 2020 presidential election. If all of these people had voted, an estimated 91 million people, we could have certainly had a different outcome in the election. This demonstrates how it is not about the power of a single vote but the power that lies in our collective ability to vote. Our presence as citizens of the United States has the power to choose one presidential candidate over another.


Another issue with this style of thinking is that it completely disregards the often small margins associated with elections. For example, the 2000 presidential election was decided by a mere 537 votes in Florida. The number of people voting, whether it is 100 million or 200 million, is irrelevant once we consider that any election could be determined by a matter of a few votes. The results of an election could therefore potentially be decided by just a single vote.


Voting is a right that we, over many generations, have rightfully acquired and that we should therefore not disregard. It is a symbol of the power that we the people possess, a privilege that we must learn to appreciate.

Comments

  1. Praghna January 23, 2024 at 1:09 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Praghna January 24, 2024 at 4:32 PM

    Hi Stavya. As soon as I read the first sentence of your blog I fell into an immediate existential crisis since I just realized that the presidential election is coming up this year (meaning that 3 years have already passed by with Biden).
    Though we are constantly taught about the impact voting has on our country it is bewildering to see that many hold such a low value on this act.
    The factual tone incorporated provides a sense of trust from the audience as the reader is more likely to appreciate an opinion with evidence compared to the opposite.
    I appreciate the last sentence that you have included as I also agree that voting is “a symbol of the power that we the people possess.” In a country in which many minorities are stripped of their natural rights it is important to grasp an understanding of the one right all American citizens share.
    I noticed that you have decided to format your writing off the page, this can easily be interpreted in many ways by the reader which adds to the creative aspect of the blog. I like that rather than simply stating your opinion you have effectively supported it with the evidence and statistics used. In the future I would love to see a further exploration in the creative side of writing in your blogs!

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