An Artist's Rendition
you don't say...

I felt quite claustrophobic as I found myself in a little cubby. A small fragile table, which struggled under the weight of the marker that was tied to it, stood in front of me. Surrounded on all sides by a tarp, I took the tied, frizzled marker from the table and made my choice. I voted.

In the recent election, 100 million people went out of their regular schedules to make a choice in other little cubbies countrywide. That’s one third of the country that made a choice, one third of the country that voted, and one third of the country that decided the future. Sure, my vote may look insignificant to the 100 million others, but without my vote, there would have been only 99,999,999 votes. I know those numbers scare most of you; I admit they are pretty big, but look through my perspective: Had I not voted, my views would have gone un-represented - and isn’t that the reason behind democracy?

Why vote? Vote because, not only are you choosing a president or member of congress, but also you are choosing the directions this country will make in the next few years. The founders of this country debated how to divide the powers of government. They made many compromises and thought many new ideas along the way. At last, they chose a government with three branches, each empowered with checks and balances; impeachment is one of these checks and balances given to the legislative branch against the executive branch. Another of these checks and balances is the executive’s power to nominate federal judges, from those in lower courts to those in the Supreme Court, albeit with the legislature’s consent. This process is important; one of the judicial branch’s checks and balances includes the judicial review - Judicial review being what allows the Supreme Court to declare laws constitutional or not. Presidents must nominate appropriately, however, by nominating a candidate that congress will accept. Justices are nominated which represent the president’s ideals: a pro-life idealist wouldn’t nominate those who favor of pro-choice. Remember, terms served by justices are life terms; many presidents and congressmen may serve before a justice retires. In these upcoming years many justices are predicted to retire; therefore a vote now may not only affect the next four years but probably the next ten or fifteen.

With all the hype and hoopla the race for the presidency is given, you would think there is only one elected office in the entire government. Who ever remembers that the House of Representatives and one third of the senate are elected every two years? As the branch of government that drafts the laws of the land, one would think this branch would be the most important. Yet fewer people take the time to vote when no one runs for presidency. I guess people don’t understand that without Congress, the president wouldn’t have any laws to execute and a job to do. So the decision is left for other, smarter fellas to make. In a three branched government with checks and balances, these interim elections are as important as the presidential elections. As I voted in the little cubby, I made sure I had my say on those positions as well.

Unfortunately, there are places where none are able to have their say in a little cubby. Or, if they do, voting is a mere dramatic play for the population while the government chooses the next leader. I come from a country where, even though a vote has value, there are more ways of determining the next president - money and property have a stronger input. This harsh reality, created by the ever-present separation of those who control the wealth and those who are controlled, is seen widely across the world. This is called despotism, where a single party or person governs the rest. At it’s strongest, a group of the twelve most influential families controlled the government and ruled my country, El Salvador. In answer to the unchecked power of despotism, guerillas and revolutionaries appeared, and my country went into civil war.

In 1776, the American colonists fought a Revolutionary War against a despotic England. They sought to build a country on democracy. After many valiant battles of war and heated discussions on ways of governing, emerged a constitution that gave rights to all citizens. The ideas from which the constitution stands, as stated in the Declaration of Independence, assert that governments derive their power from the people they govern; should government become oppressive, then the people have the right to dismantle it for a new one. Every time I find myself in the small cubbies provided for Election Day, I remind myself of this. I remind myself of countries like my own - where a vote counts little and men fight for their rights - and of past wars fought to preserve this ritual. Voting is a right given to me by government so that I can continue to consent to its existence. By electing a candidate, government in turn allows me a say in its schedule. And that’s why I find myself in a little cubby every odd year - to remind myself that I have some power, too.