Does the American Election System Even Want You to Vote?

Does+the+American+Election+System+Even+Want+You+to+Vote%3F

Sofia Pereira, Contributing Writer

It’s no secret that the American voting system is extremely hard to understand. While a crucial component of the United States’ democracy, upon closer examination, the nature of the system itself seems dubious. From an outsider’s perspective, it is almost as if the entire election system is created to stop the ordinary citizen from voting.

This can be found in the particulars of the indirect election system but also in the way that election day is organized. Registering as a voter can be a nightmare, especially if you’ve recently moved states or don’t have the required identification records. Additionally, voting takes place on weekdays instead of during times like the weekend, or specific holidays, when most Americans have free time.

The majority of people don’t have time in their busy days — more than seven million Americans work more than two jobs — to spend hours in line at the polling booths. This system is designed to affect minorities and the poor in particular. States like North Carolina have passed a series of strict voter identification laws with the clear intention of making it harder for people to vote, especially Native Americans and other underrepresented citizens who are less likely to have the required documentation. The addition of laws like these on top of the already complicated national registration requirements, strips away the notion that we the citizens have any say in what’s going on in our own country.

This is especially true in regards to national elections. Candidates may spend their entire campaigns trying to convince the American people to support them, but in the end it is not their vote that truly matters, but the votes of the electoral college. These representatives, which are chosen during less highly-publicized elections, are the ones who are directly electing presidential candidates.

Time and time again, it seems that the voting system has built-in barriers to the ballot so that the best-represented groups in our government are the ones that have the time and resources to vault over these obstacles. The important thing going forward is finding ways to change that.

We have to realize that even though America is proud of its democracy, elections are still a work in progress, and the most important — and probably the most revolutionary — thing we can do as citizens is to participate in politics at every level, from local to national.

The voting process may be a hassle — most candidates will never resonate with every citizen, and it’s hard to be fully informed. But we have to remind ourselves that voting is not just an opportunity, but a right and a duty we have as citizens. It is up to us to voice our opinion as unsatisfied members of this community and elect officials who will help change the rules of our current system to reflect the qualities of fairness and equal opportunity that this nation was founded on.

Opinions expressed on the editorial pages are not necessarily those of WSN, and our publication of opinions is not an endorsement of them.

Email Sofia Pereira at [email protected].