Every Citizen's Responsibility to Vote

It seems like more people than ever are paying attention to this election, and that’s a good thing. But still, too many people are left out or opt out of the democratic process for the wrong reasons. If we want people to participate in the political process, we must have a system in which it is easy to participate and to be informed. Currently, our electoral system has too many structural features that discourage participation and disenfranchise people outright. Even just registering to vote is an opaque and complex enough process that it deters many people from doing what is necessary to have a say in elections.

Some people are lazy, but most people are just busy. They have jobs, they have families, they have classes and homework. They just have too many other things in their everyday lives that seem to matter more and that demand their attention right now. In order to have a democracy that truly works, we must have an electoral system in which participation and engagement are both easy and accessible for everyone. It is on our government to make the necessary changes, and it is on organizations like the Columbia Political Union, in the meantime, to do our part to help make the process easier. That is why voter registration is such an important part of what CPU does and why we do it the way that we do it.

The responsibility for maintaining our democracy sits not just on the shoulders of the government, but also on our own. We as citizens need to have a strong enough sense of civic duty that we make it a priority to figure out how to participate, to register to vote, to get informed, and to actually go to the polls on Election Day and cast our votes.

We should not take for granted that we live in a society where we have the freedom to protest our government, to say what we please, and to start organizations and businesses as we wish. All you have to do is look around the world to know that it is not the norm, and it does not happen by accident. We have a responsibility to the ideals of freedom and equality upon which our society is founded to continue to keep our democracy alive by participating in it.

Moreover, it is in our interest to have a say in who our leaders are because, in the end, you too have to obey the traffic laws, you too have to pay taxes, and you too enjoy the freedom to say and think what you please. Whatever your political views may be, make sure to get informed and participate in this election because we all have a stake in it.

The author is a Columbia College senior majoring in economics. He is the general manager of Columbia Political Union.