Why Voting on November 3rd is Important to Me

Elizabeth A. Seibert (joecool123)

Shortly after graduating college, I was the victim of a crime where my voice was taken from me. It's an ongoing matter, so I can't get into specifics, but I will say that the incident shattered my world view. It made me question everything -- how legal and social systems can perpetuate certain crimes, how some assailants never face any consequences, and how being born a certain gender or race makes it exponentially more likely to be a victim of literal, social, and economic violence.

Mostly, I learned that nothing in our world--these systems, crimes, or consequences--happens in a vacuum. A vote, however, is having your say in how you think these systems should be. As a writer, I know first hand that there are many avenues towards communicating ideas about how you think the world should look. There's memes, stories, podcasts, and digitally standing up to the podium, but none of these is as impactful as voting.

A democracy means that no one person's voice is more important than another. It means we elect leaders to carry our voices for us. Many people think that because their state is "red or blue," that their vote doesn't matter, but this is not true. It's what people leading the status quo want you to think so you don't take their power.

Anything can happen in an election and that's the beauty of it. The important thing is to remember that your vote is your voice. Exercising your right to vote is not only having your say in the government, it's protecting your right to do just that. It's standing up and saying, Hey. What I think matters. And people have to listen.

After what happened to me, I no longer take the right to have a say for granted.

That's why I will be voting on November 3rd.