Malak Abdalla.

Am I Going To vote?

Voting is an action that is taken by a group of people to express their choices and needs.
Elections can also be categorized under the definition of voting. Most of the times, voting gets
anonymously done, and other times, it does not. In the United States, people show up to the polls
so they can vote for the person or party they want, and they only can vote once each election.
Voting is important for the democracy to last. If there was no voting, the government in a
country or the power body of a specific group or area will collapse, and people will be subjected
under the control of the power with no exercising of their rights, and no participating in political
activities nor in democracy. The federal government permitted states to discriminate against
minority citizens’ voting right until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed. Then the
government extended the right of voting for women, minority groups and Native Americans.
Yet, not all eligible voters vote and participate in elections. In the 2016 presidential electrons,
about one half of eligible voters only turned out to vote. When I become 18, I will undoubtedly
vote because I know that I will make a difference, and I believe that my vote will impact the
country and more specifically my personal life, and finally, I will vote because voting is part of
my duties as an American citizen.
The first reason why I will vote is because I believe that I will make a difference. A vote
from me, my parents, my siblings, my relatives, my friends, and my community, a vote on a vote
will absolutely make a difference. Having that set of mind that if you vote, you will impact is one
of the ways that will encourage more voters to vote and highly participate in democratic
activities in the country. On MassVote.com, comments basically showed how smaller
communities can impact the wealthiness of the country by voting, and having 2 electors. Also,
during the 2008 elections, millennials were the majority of the voters who voted for Barack
Obama. Their votes were actually what brought up his voting percentages, and as they claimed,
made a difference, which they actually did, and chose the president who they wanted to represent
them, and was elected for another term of presidency as well. The election this year was kind of
different since millennials were divided into voters of colors and races, or white voters. Most of
the minorities voted for Clinton, however the majority of white voters voted for Trump which
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ended up making him president, ​Mosendz, Polly. “What This Election Taught Us About
Millennial Voters”, Bloomberg Media, NY, Nov 9th​ ​ 2016. The PBS Election film series We The
Voters ​was expressed by the main character that even if people make you feel that you and your
vote will not make a difference in a country of more than 300 million people, you will actually
make a difference and impact; and I mentioned before, a vote on a vote will make more than a
difference. Furthermore, ​The Huffington Post​, most people commented by ensuring that their
votes are important since their voice is heard, and with that they are impacting the country and
making it prosper more and more. People in who work in the government do not only get the
work done, but they also vote. They vote because they know how the system works, and they
want to make sure that the system keeps working, and as mentioned by ​Sarah Lengsfelder,​ “the
branches are not equal, but a single individual- even one of 535 members of Congress- can make
a difference,” which is basically giving the power of change for those who can vote, ​Transcript
and audio describing how the United States government works to solve problems, I Help Make
Government Work,” The Bob Edwards Show, February 18, 2011.​ They key word in that quote is
difference. She expressed how a single member in a group of 535 can and will make a
difference, so why will a voter trivialize in his power in change?

Voting is a way to express your demands and rights as a citizen; in also is a path taken to
impact our country and our personal lives as inhabitants. The people care about a lot of issues
that they wanted to be improved and fixed by voting to the person who they feel will be capable
of doing that. As mentioned in the​ PBS Election film series, We The Voters, ​the main character
went to the polls to vote because he knows that his vote will impact his future by improving or
solving issues such as immigration, education, health care, wages, and many other issues.
Moreover, People vote because they were taught to do so, they were taught to vote because they
matter and voting will impact their personal lives to better in multiple issues as those mentioned
above. ​Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, graphs and
fact sheet covering the trends of young voters, “Youth Voting Quick Facts,” 2014. ​Also,
according to John Della Volpe, voting is what indicated whether the voter will likely be involved
in the future or not, which is actually on the right track because if the voter involved in voting, he
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will involve in other related activities. ​C-SPAN, videos detailing why youth participate or not in
elections, “Youth Vote,” C-SPAN Classroom Deliberations, 2014.
Being a citizen does not only mean having to have your citizenship, and your rights,
being a citizen also means that you be a person who loves his country and wishes nothing but the
best for it. In my opinion, voting is a civic duty that everyone has to do it in order to be
considered a good citizen, specifically people who can vote because some people might not be
able to vote for certain reasons. People obviously vote because they feel that it is their
responsibility to vote. It is a responsibility and obligation to vote as respect to the people who
fought to get to vote, and assured that right for the future generations as ​Nicki Beaman Griffin
mentioned in the video segment describing how different groups fought for suffrage, “The Fight
for the Right to Vote in the United States,” TED Ed, 2013. ​“I care… Just like me many young
people around this country care desperately about their lives, goals, and future. We need
someone to listen, support our issues, and prove to us that America wants to hear from young
people.” ​Amanda Ponzar, Staff writers, student testimonials about why they do or do not vote,
“Why Don’t Youth Vote? Young People Respond,” Southern Changes, 2000. ​Ponzar showed that
it is not only our responsibility and and duty to vote, but America wants to know what people,
and it is not easy to know that without voting since it is considered the way to express people’s
needs, and this why I will vote.
People might believe that voting is not an important aspect that indicates their love and
appreciation for the country because there are many other things a person can do to serve it in
better ways. “Many states in America require people to present government-issued ID in order to
vote. Many young Americans do not have driving licences, hunting licences or passports, and it’s
a chore to get a special voter’s ID, so many end up unable to vote.” ​Staff writers, article
describing why young people are disinterested in voting, “Why Young people Don’t Vote,” The
Economist, October 29, 2014. ​Economists explained the reason why some people do not vote.
Being allowed to vote is due to having restrictions on voting such as having voting IDs and
licenses, but not all people are capable of owning them. Although, there are many people who
are able to vote, and meet the criteria of voting, but they do not vote, so that should not be an
argument made for voting because even though they have their licences and voting IDs, they still
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do not vote. Also, according to Jim C. Fung, People do not vote because they believe the
electoral system should be changed. ​Staff writers, student testimonials about why they do or do
not vote, “Why Don’t Youth Vote? Young People Respond,” Southern Changes, 2000. ​Voting
has been progressing since a long time, which allowed a lot of people who were not allowed to
vote before such as women, African American, and minorities; and has been working for years,
but why should it be changed if most of the people can vote the way they wanted?
As a country full of democracy and freedom, voting, in my opinion, is one the most
important things I will look forward to do. Backhome, voting was not that significant. It was not
significant in our views because we have seen too much. Voting for a new president was not a
thing that will make that much of a difference for us, or for the country since we have been
occupied for approximately 69 years, and not a single thing changed. So voting in a country that
cares about the people, and works for the people, and secures the people is a priority for me.