Your Voice - Voting essays

Your Voice - Voting essays Is your voice heard? It can be, due to the thousands, if not millions, of lives lost in the pursuit of freedom. The right to vote is one of the freedoms that our country gives its people. We, as Americans, can choose who we want to represent us in our government, to choose what laws and measures are passed, and to decide how our tax dollars are spent. It is for this freedom that we separated ourselves from England. But even then everyone wasnt free to vote, only the white men could make their voice heard. People like Abraham Lincoln fought for the black mans right to vote. Today their efforts can be seen, now everyone has that enduring right to choose. In 1920, the 19th amendment to the Constitution was made, that gave every woman the right to vote. Finally, it seemed, everyone could decide for himself or herself because they were given the privilege of voting. Amazingly, some do not take this gift. They choose not to make their voice heard. Only about 50% of people in America vote for the Presidential Election, 50.1% in the recent 2002 election. Many people are skeptical to voting, stating reasons like my voice doesnt really count. In reality, every vote counts. Sometimes just by voting you show an example to others and perhaps even persuade them to vote as well. The highest presidential turnout rate in 2002 was 68.8% in Minnesota, the lowest being 41.0% in Hawaii. Consider the number, only 7 out of 10 people voted this last election at the highest right. More common is 5 of 10, even 4 out of 10. How could so many people just not vote? One of the most used reasons non-voters state is the lack of power they carry as individuals. A more popular trend than not voting at all is partial voting. A partial voter usually chooses an election and votes for that only, usually the presidential election. The alarming fact is that perhaps the local elections bear more we ...