Does voting matter?

One of the most fundamental rights of any citizen within a Democratic society, such as that of the United States, is right to influence government to more accurately represent their interests--a right most clearly defined in the ability to vote. While some elections, as in that of the President, are not directly deomocratic, voters nevertheless have an important say in the outcome. One of the most important aspects of voting is simply the action, the exercising of a citizens natural right. The result of most elections may still leave a large group (slightly less than the majority) unsatisfied with the results, but without this process of public voting the democratic spirit of the country would be non-existant. Dealing with presidential elections, many citizens argue that since the process is not direct and the decision passes through an electoral college that their vote is meaningless. The electoral college, however, has pledged to cast their vote in line with the majority in their section. While some of these members may, and have broken this pledge in certain circumstances in the past, these occurances are rare and in most cases the opinion of the state is represented through the college. Strong voter trends in particular states may also be a discouraging factor for many voters, as a tradition of party voting may be very difficult to break in a state's history. Despite some of these trends, the current election shows that some states once thought to be sure-captures for either party have moved closer and become toss-up states. These changes prove that no traditions are set in stone; it is never pointless to cast your ballot, even when a state has had a strong, consistent history in similar voting. While those who do not believe in the political process may be hesistant to vote for any political candidate, more and more citizens are encouraging each other to be proactive about using their political voice and showing up on election day. Voting not only allows every man to contribute to the political decisions and appointments of his country, but it is the means through which the purest sense of democracy shows up in the political process, connecting the people to their representative government, if only briefly. Voting does matter.