Your vote counts more than you think.

“I don’t like either candidate.”
“My vote doesn’t matter.”
“My morals won’t let me choose between the lesser of two evils.”
“I can’t vote for someone I don’t believe in.”

What excuse are you giving for not voting? With the 2020 election coming up quicker than we'd all like to believe, it's more important than ever to register to vote and have your voice heard. I'll be honest with you. I have not voted in every single election since I turned 18. However, when I moved to Arizona, I registed to vote as a Democrat and voted in every election since, even the local elections. I don't consider myself a true Democrat; however, I wanted my voice to count in primaries, where it wouldn't had I registered as an Independent.

We saw in the 2016 election some of the effects of voter turnout. States swing in ways we don't predict. We can talk about the broken electoral college or useless "protest votes" at a later date, but for now, let's focus on why less than half of the US population is exercising their right to vote.

Let's be honest; a lot of us haven't been happy with our presidential candidate choices lately. I know I was a lot younger when Obama was running for office, but I remember the excitement for a candidate that I haven't seen in a long time. I remember similar excitement when Bernie ran for the Democratic party in the last election and I guess I remember excitement for Trump among some members of the Republican party. However, I also remember a lot of fear and anger when Trump was running for office.

When you aren't excited about a candidate, it's hard to feel motivated to vote. It's difficult to bring yourself to choose between candidates you might feel like you equally dislike or that make you feel as though you are "choosing between the lesser of two evils."

Or, just maybe, you feel like your vote doesn't count. Trump lost the popular vote last year and still won the election in the electoral college. The truth is, depending on where you live, your vote might not count the same as someone else's. It's a painful and realistic truth, but your vote still counts.

Need more convincing? Here are just a few reasons why you should be voting in the upcoming election:

1. It’s your right. Despite what you may think about the process, the simplest reason that you should take advantage of your right to vote is because you can. There are so many people in this world today who don’t have that right. It’s the right that our founding fathers fought for hundreds of years ago, it’s the right that African Americans fought for, and it’s the right that women fought for. It means something, so go out there and exercise the right that so many others were denied for so long.
2. Higher voter turnout means we are closer to a true democracy. True democracy. I’m sure you might have heard it mentioned in government class. It’s the “popular vote” or the decision made by the collective votes of each person in the community. It’s not feasible to have a true democracy in country the size of the US, but if we have higher turnout rates, we can get closer to it.
3. If you don’t vote, your voice will never be heard. When large groups of people aren’t turning out to elections, the elections favor the people that do vote. I know, it sounds obvious, but the statistics behind this are surprising. An example of a group of people that have a lower turnout rate? Youth voters. You know whose not being represented in elections? Youth voters. If a politician is theoretically trying to win votes, why would he or she bother try to appeal to those he or she knows won’t turn out on Election Day? If everyone in the country is going to be represented, everyone needs to vote.
4. Your vote actually can make a difference. Remember the Florida Election Recount of 2000? The difference was only 537 votes. 537 votes would have changed the election. In a state of millions, only 500 votes, less than a percent of the population, would have made a difference. Especially if you live in a swing state, your vote can make a difference too.
5. If you are unhappy with the way things are, you should do something about it. People complain about the state of the nation every day. Whatever issues you have with the way things are going, shouldn’t you at least try to change it? This is the only voice you have; utilize it. No one likes a hypocrite.

“Bad officials are elected by good citizens who don’t vote.”—George Jean Nathan