In a two party government the political line draws itself. This presents a problem in the very definition of democracy. A democracy is supposed to be the will of the people represented by people they want to lead. The United States is not a democracy. It is a republic.
This is evident in the Electoral College. The current political climate forces citizens and voters into only two final options for political parties, despite there being numerous other parties and candidates who run for president.
This has led to a mob mentality of being either a Republican or a Democrat. On voting ballots in numerous states you have to identify which party you identify with before you cast your ballot. This strong-arming voters into picking a side.
This leads me to my point. Not voting at all is a legitimate option and needs to stop being looked down upon. When Hilary Clinton won the
Democratic nomination over Bernie Sanders in the 2016 election race there was a hashtag trening on Twitter: #AnyoneButHer.
Although people can argue and debate whether or not the hashtag was reasonable or not, the point still stands that thousands of people expressed their discontent with the choice of the Democratic nominee.
The people in that situation who wanted neither Donald Trump nor Hilary Clinton have a right to not vote as a medium of expression for their discontent with the then- current choices of leaders. And no, that doesn’t make their opinions invalid for choosing not to vote.
Another opinion amongst some people dissatisfied with non- voters, are non-voter opinions are not valid. Choosing not to vote is as much a statement of opinion and as legitimate an option as voting Democrat or Republican. I would argue the people choosing not to take a side and putting their foot in the ground are people whose opinions should be held in the highest regard.
The people choosing not to be a statistic amongst two, in their opinion, poor candidates are people who deserve to have their voices be heard.
The independent parties in the current political system of the US will never have a legitimate chance of winning the presidency. Having only two actual options to choose from – especially from two poor candidates – is to be asinine. It’s so illogical in what is supposed to be a democratic system that even
George Washington advised against.
Until the current electoral system is reformed into a system designed to make sure that the entire American public’s scope of opinions are truly represented, not voting is something to not be looked down upon. Just as people are invoking their civic duty to vote, so are the people abstaining from voting. They have a voice, and they are expressing it. More people need to start listening.
Teren Kowatsch can be reached at [email protected]