An honest question for this group:

[murielm99]

I belong to a local group of Democrats that is loosely affiliated with Indivisible. We do have a lot of autonomy and we are able to make our own decisions. We are involved with a lot of local activities. We are precinct leaders, members of our central committees across three or four counties. We write LTTEs and we GOTV. We phone bank, circulate nominating petitions, etc. We walk in parades. We are all ages.

At one of our recent meetings, we had an honest question from one of our youngest members. She deserves answers. I have given her some answers from personal experience, but I am only one person. I would like answers from all kinds of Democrats. I don't care if you supported Bernie or Hillary. I don't care if you are gay or straight, religious or an atheist.

The young woman in question attends our local community college. She runs into this attitude at school: Why vote? Our vote does not matter.

Any sort of an honest answer, from personal experience, or from your own thoughts will do. Why vote?

[Hekate]

1. As I told my kids when a local candidate won by 7 votes in a recount: never tell me your vote ...

…doesn’t matter.

[murielm99]

4. That was the story I had for this young woman.

The MAGAT who pounded on my front door and bellowed at me won his school board election by six votes! Seven more sensible votes would have sen him packing.

Thank you for answering.

[Jilly_in_VA]

2. I was always told

that if you don't vote, you give up your right to bitch. That's one. Two, if you don't vote, there is no opposition to the other guys. Three, even if you are a minority, which I am in the district where I live now, you still need to register your voice. Just in the last election, the vote for the Democratic House candidate was up 4%, which may not sound like a lot, but if you live in a deep red district, it is! Fourth, if people don't vote, there is no hope---and hopelessness is what leads to dictatorships.

Is that enough?

[Hekate]

19. That's a version of my philosophy on the subject as well

[Walleye]

3. Lauren Boebert made it into Congress by 500 votes

If you don’t vote you will find yourself represented by someone like her

[lpbk2713]

5. If you don't vote you don't have the right to complain.

That's what I've told my kids before.

[TwilightZone]

6. Lots of reasons.

Abortion rights
LGBT rights
Civil rights
Police reform
Student loan reform
Education
Climate change
Environmental protections
Clean air and water protections
Gun control
Health care
Protect social security and medicare
Economic issues and jobs
Infrastructure
Etc.

As for "my vote doesn't count", I'd point to close elections. Gore/Bush was 537 votes in Florida. Lower-tier races are sometimes decided by one or a few votes.

https://www.npr.org/2018/11/03/663709392/why-every-vote-matters-the-elections-decided-by-a-single-vote-or-a-little-more

[Scrivener7]

13. That's the most compelling, I think. 537 votes elected Bush.

And it could easily happen again the way the electoral college is set up.

[bucolic_frolic]

7. Because your vote could determine the outcome of an election that effects your life

This is more likely to happen in local elections, where margins can be close. Democrats defeated a developer locally, by 2 votes. We would have a different township if he had won. My household was strongly targeted by pro-development forces. They lied and were nice. My entreaties held the day. In a sense, we were the deciding margin. 2 votes.

Another reason to vote is how many have died to protect our freedoms. Democracy is always on trial in the world, from the right, from Royalty, from dictators, from cutthroat capitalism. We have freedom because we earned it.

I had a grand uncle I never knew. He was gassed in World War I. Not badly, but the nerve gas ate at the brain over time. He served the last 6 weeks of the war, roughly, and in the windup forces for another 9 months. Gassed. He lived in a veterans home in NYC. Then returned to the private sector as an electrical salesman. Then to a veterans home in PA where he died. He was 36. We never knew this tale, only the NYC part. But records have come online. He died. For America.

Another angle on voting is to not throw away your vote blindly by party label. Understand the issues. You're part of the problem if you know nothing and vote because someone told you but you know nothing about what you're voting for. Votes matter. Judges. Supervisors. Sheriffs. School boards that suppress books. Don't give dictators power. Vote for freedom. Find out who that is on the ballot. It's your country. You hand it on to your kids. It was nice for you. Keep it that way.

[a kennedy]

8. Oh, and if they're religious, ya tell them it's your gawd given right to vote, and if ya don't

it’ll be taken away.

[Ms. Toad]

9. Trump.

People who decided that Cllinton had it in the bag and didn't bother to vote (or cast a protest vote - to send a message to "President" Clinton that she needed to shape up) are why Trump was President.

(Although I don't agree with them, I am not slamming people who made an affirmative choice to vote for a candidate other than the two main parties. I am slamming people who chose to vote (or not to vote) because they were complacent about a Clinton win.

Whatever laws or policies are enacted or enforced by those elected impact all of us. If you don't vote, chances are better than average that the impact will be a negative one.

And, as others have pointed out, elections are won all of the time by a handful of votes.

[Maru Kitteh]

10. I would say she should shift her focus from Presidential to local elections

where her vote will always matter.

In too many states, her assessment of her vote is absolutely correct when it comes to the presidential election. So instead, look at the myriad of other elected positions that matter in the everyday life of your community and control the actual levers of democracy.

[cachukis]

11. It is an intellectual responsibility. To not have an opinion on a

subject is to ignore it. To have a fulfilled experience of life you must decide rather than be decided for. Voting is the exercise of judging. We all judge whether we are told not to. Being a good one is critical for peace of mind.
We vote everyday with our choices. To be ignorant of the law is no excuse. To be ignorant of the lawmakers is foolhardy.

[Arazi]

12. Iirc, you're in IL? Use legalization of weed to make the point

Cannabis legalization was a many-years effort but in the last Gov race between Pritzker and Rauner, Pritzker specifically vowed to legalize weed and eliminate the bogus drug busts and imprisonment of people for weed possession.

It was a message that really resonated because lots of young folks knew how transformative de-criminalization had been in CA, CO, Oregon etc.

But it took people getting off their ass and voting for Pritzker to get it done.

IL has ensured many people no longer have to worry about drug possession charges, imprisonment, getting weed for relaxation instead of alcohol etc along with the added revenue boosts of taxing it.

Voting is what did it. I’ve found pointing to this particular concrete example of policy change that was a direct result of voting is very effective.

Good luck

[questionseverything]

17. Legalization of weed is a good example

Another is so women stay in control of their own bodies

And only democrats care about feeding hungry children

😉

[patphil]

14. How many cells make up the human body?

If one cell goes cancerous is it a problem? How about if a million do? 100 million?
Where's the threshold where it becomes a problem? It started with one cell, and metastacised.
Do you want to be that one cell?

Support the nation's political health. Vote!

[mcar]

15. We have one Democrat, one, on our small city's Council

She ran on one issue - televising council meetings. She and the county Democratic club, of which I am part, knocked on the doors of every D and NPA in that district. She introduced herself and listed to their concerns.

Running against her was a RWNJ who is racist, homophobic, sexist - a true Trumper.

She won by 40 votes. And got her motion to televise meetings passed in her first meeting.

This is a ruby Red Florida county. People were gobsmacked.

Don't ever tell me voting doesn't matter.

[Dan]

16. When I think about this question,

It always comes to mind - that people have died for your right to vote. Respect that if nothing else.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

18. There is a similar group in my county

This group is run by a friend. I have not been to a meeting since COVID started but may attend one soon.

I have been volunteering on voter protection efforts since 2004 when i went to Florida as part of the Kerry Edwards voter protection team. I have been volunteering because I believe that we need to protect the right to vote.

Our vote matters for a good number of reasons. My local county govt. is now blue and we have control of the county commissioner's court. We are targeting one of the two remaining GOP commissioners who is in a district that we should be able to flip. Our sheriff and District Attorney are now demorats and they are more responsive to the needs of the community.

Texas is red now but is turning blue as the state becomes less rural and more urban. According to some demographic studies, Texas will turn blue either this cycle or during the 2026 cycle. Votes matter.

[AndyS]

20. Even if your vote does not prevail it STILL MATTERS.

It tells the opposition that there is resistance. It reminds them that there are other viewpoints. If your vote is part of a large enough movement it will shift the direction of the opposition.

Think Ross Perot. Only got 11% of the presidential vote against GHB but every politician showed up with charts and graphs for a decade after he ran and lost.

[Earth-shine]

21. Go vote and encourage your friends and family to vote, so it's not just one measly ballot.

[Eko]

22. Because that one thing, voting.

Is the one thing that this country asks you to do for it. It doesn't make you go to war, believe in a religion or believe in really anything. Follow a king, a theocrat, aristocrat or a general.It just asks you to vote. That's all.

[ismnotwasm]

23. "Why vote".... that's why Roe is gone

That’s why districts are gerrymandered to hell
That’s why we don’t have universal healthcare
That’s why we continue to have an unequal Justice system
That’s why climate action is way behind the curve
That’s why White supremacy doesn’t die.
So much more

Generations of “why vote”

When Hillary was running and I heard crap like that I felt like I was in the twilight zone. I still feel like that way.

[B.See]

24. Because people out there who hate YOU are COUNTING on you to FAIL.

[Mz Pip]

25. One vote may not matter

But there is power in unity.

Voting in a democracy is what separates us from authoritarian regimes. We may not always win but definitely won’t win if we don’t vote.

The world is run by those who show up.