Stressing the importance of voting

Johanna Berntsson, Staff Reporter

With the current political climate in this country, we are in desperate need of something to change and if you don’t like how this country is run, you need to get out and vote.

A recent CNN poll showed that 75 percent of U.S. citizens disapprove of Congress, many feel change needs to happen soon.

I think that voting is one of the most important things one can do to exercise one’s democratic rights.

Being from one of the few full democratic countries in the world according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index, I grew up with the concept that each citizen in the society has a direct and equal say in the decisions made in the society.

In a democracy, voting is one of the ways an individual can make their voice heard.

The whole purpose of voting is to make sure what is important to you gets acknowledged by the people in power.

This is every individual’s right, according to both the U.S. constitution and state laws, and responsibility in a democratic society.

It saddens me when I see the voter turnout was as low as 55.5 percent in the 2016 presidential election, and I do believe this was one of the main reasons the U.S. has the president as it has.

We need a change, and we need it right now.

On Nov. 6, the midterm elections will begin and it is now more important than ever for everyone to vote.

Everyone, especially the youth, have the power to make decisions that can affect the country since they account for half of the voting population.

In the words of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis “We should all do something to right the wrongs we see and not just complain about them.”