Before selecting a candidate, the biggest decision any age-eligible U.S. citizen has to make today is choosing whether to vote. Encouragement to vote is so nearly universal — especially when presented to the youth demographic, whose inaugural opportunity to vote is explained to be of central importance for cultivating in them a lifelong habit of democratic engagement. Yet seldom is the rationale offered for which type of elections matter the most — the national, state or the local. A national election can seem so partisan, crowded and far removed that an individual may not see the point of voting. To exercise their rights, help determine the country’s future and influence the course of the University, students who have not already done so should fill out a ballot today.
As students at a public university, the short- and long-term finances and ideological state of this school is largely planned out in Richmond. Hence, some young people may question the relevance of a vote on a national scale. The issues may seem more remote — considering many of us are not yet in a position to be affected personally by changes in federal taxes or the state of our foreign policy. Some voters may appreciate the local issues but think that Washington politics will inhibit their individual voices, given the traditional obstructionist tactics in the halls of D.C. This short-sighted belief, however, is detrimental to the spirit of civics. All voters — and not just students — need to examine which candidates they think will benefit the nation as a whole and not just themselves individually.
Even if your vote is important on a theoretical basis, it can seem miniscule on the practical, nationwide scale. This year, though, that is untrue. Going into Election Day, the numbers are too close to call. Things may look decided in Charlottesville — survey results released last week by the University Center for Survey Research puts President Obama ahead of Republican nominee Mitt Romney 56 to 27 percent in Albemarle County. In the town of Charlottesville alone, the polls give Obama a 69 to 13 percent lead. But the more immediate statistics mask what is a much closer election on the state and national scale. Virginia and its 13 electoral votes could fall to either candidate, with the latest NBC/WSJ poll pitting Obama’s 48 percent against Romney’s 47 percent in the state.
In this context, everyone’s vote can be crucial. The polling numbers are close enough to indicate that a push either way could decide the course of the presidency. Typically, polls change in the aftermath of a specific event — a debate or political gaffe, say. Since there is no more time to expect such a development, the shift that will determine the election Tuesday could be created by who shows up to vote.
Of course, your vote will most likely not decide the election — to allow one person that much power would be autocratic. Instead, those individuals still unsure about whether to vote should see themselves as the demographic that will settle the election conclusively. The data may subdivide us into an apt demographic — members of a certain age, party or class. But the most important categories today are those who vote and those who do not, with the former deciding the country’s fate while the latter are just staying home.
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