Shape your future and vote

The Constitution of the United States is written so that if you are 18 or older and an American citizen, you have the opportunity to shape your own future through voting. It is an almost frightening responsibility to have a say in both your own future as well as in your country's future. Not voting could be viewed as almost selfish, being only concerned with events that you think would directly relate to you. The candidates elected, however, will do things that will change your life. If you do not vote you have no voice in this, and you are also throwing away a hard-earned privilege for which people long ago gave up their lives.

Voter turnout in America has been, in recent years, extremely low. Many potential voters simply don't care about politics or think that "one vote doesn't matter." Others have excessive faith in the stability of the American government, reasoning that with a system such as ours, nothing could go terribly wrong. All of these excuses may seem valid at first, but a glance at voter turnout statistics will show that we have a problem on our hands. In recent years, Iceland's parliamentary voter turnout has been above 80 percent. Australia had a close to 95 percent parliamentary voter turnout in 2004. The United States, however, had a 55 percent turnout for the 2004 presidential election. In fact, the turnout for the congressional elections is even worse, with a 37 percent turnout in 2002 and an all-time low of 36.4 percent in 1998.

Even though they may not affect you immediately, the candidates elected will change your future. People often think that the new officials won't change anything at all, and this possibly explains why the turnout for congressional elections is so low — if people think that the president himself doesn't matter, then why would they think that Congress matters? Elected candidates, however, can pass laws that could potentially change lives. One only has to look at the issues and controversies that have arisen from the Patriot Act or CIA interrogation tactics to see the impact that elected officials can have on our daily lives.

If you do not vote you have no say in these important matters. The concept of democracy is centered around the idea that every citizen has a voice. This way, no one person who has the final decision on everything. Recently, there have been many major issues for America such as abortion, gay rights and the war in Iraq. If you care about these issues but do not vote, the final decision on them might be different than it could have been had you and thousands like you voted. If only a few more people had voted in the 2000 Bush-Gore election, we might be living in an entirely different America.

Not voting disgraces the memory of the many people throughout history who went to drastic measures to get the right to vote. From 1848 to 1920, many women picketed and went on marches for their rights. Some even went on hunger strikes. Alice Paul, a notable suffragette, was force-fed in prison through tubes because doctors were afraid she would die. From 1954 to 1965, African-Americans, led by Martin Luther King Jr., also fought to be treated equally and to be able register to vote. The right to vote was so important to them that they were willing to endure atrocities committed against them including, but not limited to, being blasted with high-pressure fire hoses. Finally, during the American Revolution thousands of men died for their country, and their deaths secured our rights to express our beliefs and vote for our own leaders.

Voting is a Constitutional right and instrumental to the functioning of the American government. Government does affect your life, and voting is the best way to voice your opinions. Though it may seem difficult to care at times, it is important to remember that it is your future the elections will change, and every single vote counts. Quinta Jurecic is an eighth grader at the John Witherspoon Middle School in Princeton, NJ.