In the past month, you may have noticed individuals running around campus wearing light blue T-shirts with bright red writing emblazoned on the back, bearing a simple request: "Ask me how to vote on November 7th." We, the co-chairs of Princeton Votes 2006 — Princeton's nonpartisan voter registration and education organization — hope that by now you have chosen to register to vote and that you are planning on voting on Election Day.
Since the founding of P-Votes three years ago, we have registered nearly 1,900 Princeton students, faculty and staff to vote in all 50 states. Unfortunately, there is a significant disparity between the number of people we've helped register to vote and the number of people who actually show up to vote on Election Day. Though there has been tremendous interest in registering to vote, there has been considerably less interest in taking the time to follow through on Election Day.
You may ask yourself why you should bother to vote. After all, as economics professors teach us, each Election Day, no rational actor can believe that his vote will change the outcome of an election. The costs of voting often seem to outweigh the benefits. Why take the time to fill out an absentee ballot or walk off campus to the local polling centers?
There are people on this campus who do not have — or do not think they have — an immediate reason to vote. These hesitant Princetonians could be members of a political party whose candidate is either sure to win or certain to lose, citizens disenchanted with the occasional unpleasantness of the election process in our nation or people who simply do not believe that their one vote can make a difference in an election where the winner's margin of victory is in the thousands.
Nevertheless, there are many college students who will choose to vote on Nov. 7. These active citizens need little encouragement to turn out at the polls, and you can become one of them. Perhaps a candidate in your town wishes to raise taxes to improve roads, and you either support or oppose his or her position. Maybe your Congressman has a stance on the Iraq War that is opposite to your own. Or maybe you've just turned 18 and are eager to join the ranks of American voters. Whatever the reason, we salute the Princeton students, faculty and staff who already know they will vote.
As for those who still need to be convinced, consider the fact that many political forecasters are predicting a virtual tie in the partisan composition of the House of Representatives and Senate after the midterm elections. The year 2006 will be among the closest midterms in recent history, with control of each chamber of Congress up for grabs. Victory in the midterm elections and the public policy of this nation for the next several years will fall to the political party with higher voter turnout.
Still unmoved? Let us posit one more reason to vote. Consider the benefits of our liberal democracy that we all enjoy everyday, like the right to say what we want, practice any religion we choose and organize to protest as we see fit. These rights are granted to all Americans, yet as rights they come with a corresponding duty. That duty requires citizens to ensure the perpetuation of our country for generations of unborn Americans many years from now. Today's Americans must act so that future generations can enjoy the same freedoms and rights held sacred by our nation for the past 200 years. Voting is an important form of political expression through which Americans demonstrate their commitments to democracy and their Constitutional rights. The moment we neglect to vote, we lose sight of the important democratic values that those abroad are dying to earn each and every day.
Whether Democrat or Republican, independent or green, freshman or professor, music major or athletics coach, we urge you to participate in forming the future of the towns and states that make our republic on Nov. 7. Don't worry about lunch: we'll have pizza for you in the U-Store courtyard afterwards. Kristofer Ekdahl '07, Evan Magruder '08 and Sarah Breslow '08 are co-chairs of Princeton Votes. Breslow is also an associate editor at The Daily Princetonian. Today is the last day for voter registration for New Jersey.
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