Today is the last day to vote in the 2014 midterm elections. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. across the state. This election is the culmination of all the political ads you’ve been inundated with over the past months and those awkward Facebook debates with your freshman year roommate’s weird Uncle Jeffrey that went on far too long without a semblance of a hope of changing anyone’s mind.
If recent trends hold, we will see around a 38 percent voter turnout for this election nationwide. This is truly pathetic. I’m not sure if we just get lazy or we need four years to recover from the hangover of voting, but for a country which is seen as the number one purveyor of democracy worldwide, we sure do a poor job of getting that point across.
The 2008 presidential election saw a 57 percent voter turnout, the highest in four decades. Yet just two years later, that number plummeted by over 20 percent. What is it about voting that is so difficult?
I won’t accept the tired trope that “my vote doesn’t even matter anyway” because the arithmetic proves you wrong. If the 63 percent of eligible voters who did not cast a ballot in 2010 had voted together, they could have elected anyone to be governor or senator of their state, including here in Wisconsin. Think about it: With enough support, we could have had Bucky Badger as our as our governor or U.S. senator. While I know these are not viable choices, at least we could hold him accountable in the fall for his pushups, if nothing else. The point is, your vote carries weight.
You pay for the outcome of this election whether you vote or not. Why not at least have a say where you want your money spent? Want a stronger public education system? There’s a candidate for you. Want to explore the possibility of extracting oil from Wisconsin’s tar sands? There’s a candidate for you. Want legislation providing equal pay for equal work? There is a candidate for you. Vote for your interests and ensure that your tax dollars are going where you think they ought to go.
Cullen is a senior majoring in history and political science. What has your experience with voting been? Do you agree with Cullen’s viewpoint on voting? Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
