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The Responsibility of Voting Essay

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The Responsibility of Voting

Living in America gives each individual freedom. The freedom is yours to express your own opinion and to vote. Whether or not we choose to exercise these rights is the decision that every American citizen makes. Participating in our government is the single most important power that we as Americans have. Whether it is to elect officials or to amend a law, voting is not only a necessity, but a responsibility. In the 1996 and the 1998 presidential election, the voting turnout was below 50%. It has not been below 50% since 1920.

There are many reasons why citizens choose not to vote. The main reason to not vote is that people believe that their one vote will not matter. If you think that your one …show more content…

Registered voters can have a ballot sent to their home. That way their is no line or wait, and you can fill it out on your own time, and then mail it back in. Indiana provides a form that can be found at many places that makes it easy to register to vote Public assistance offices are required by Federal and state law to offer voter registration forms.

The “motor voter” bill that went into affect January 1, 1995 sent more that nine million eligible U.S. voters to voter or renew their address. That was a stunning figure since it was a non-presidential election year.

It is a natural thing for people to complain. My mom told me that I could never make everyone happy. So naturally, since not everyone cannot be happy all the time, some people are going to complain. People who do not vote are probably some of the people not happy and complaining about the government at some time or another. What gives nonvoter’s the right to complain? If you are not going to participate in electing the officials, then you should not have the opportunity or privilege in criticizing how they do their job. Some people argue that nonvoters do not vote because they are happy with the government. This does not seem to be the case. The 1996 National Election Study showed that nonvoters were less positive than voters.

There are a variety of characteristics between nonvoters and voters. Citizens with a college degree are more

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