why should we vote essay in english

Why People should Vote Essay

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People vote depending on their preferences. Since voting is optional, there are individuals who usually do not vote. They evade voting due to ignorance of the importance of the democratic process. Electors should acquaint themselves with constructive rationales for voting caring leaders.

Firstly, one reason for voting is that every vote is vital. People vote to avoid letting others decide for them who will lead them. They understand that a single vote can determine the winner of an election. There are instances that winners have been settled on by a single vote. In some cases, leaders have been decided by a flip of a coin (Willett). People, therefore, vote to exercise their civil rights and influence the outcome of elections.

Subsequently, people vote to protect their health. A number of electors understand that an elected leader has the power to determine the value of health care insurance they would get (Willett). They want quality healthy care services but do not want to be over taxed. They vote leaders who will provide affordable heath care services. Women also can abort after a few judges rule that it is legally acceptable. Electors who are not pleased with such life threatening decision made by a few individuals would prefer to vote in pro-life leaders(Willett).

Another reason for voting is to protect historical interests. This means people vote to honor those who fought of their voting rights and human freedoms in the community. In the past, adults younger than twenty-one years, members of minority communities, and women did not have the right to vote.

Patriotic citizens sacrificed to fight laws that were holding them captive. People vote in honor of these heroes. The idea behind this reason is if one sacrifices his/her life to fight for others, then people feel the rights are highly essential, and they do not ignore to exercise the rights. They vote to decide who among the historical heroes represented their interests (Willett).

Moreover, people vote to decide the destiny of their children and dependants. They decide the destiny of the future generations. This is because leaders make choices that influence both current and future lifestyles (Hardcastle). The laws enacted in parliament regarding education, investment, and the right to life determines the lifestyle other generations will lead.

Therefore, many people vote to secure a bright future for their children, grandchildren, and the preceding generations. In addition, they vote to lead by example. A parent, older sibling, or friend demonstrates responsibility by voting. When members of the younger generations learn that their older siblings or relatives are voting, they may become lifelong voters(Willett).

In addition, people also vote to lose the right to complain. In spite of the outcome of an election, voting helps electors to gain psychological sense of satisfaction (Hardcastle). After voting, they feel that they have played their roles. They also feel to be part of the future.

This motive makes people discover their political strengths and weakness. They also learn about democracy and its benefits. Without voting, it is not possible to know candidates’ political strengths and weaknesses. People vote to enjoy their patriotic rights and feel recognized.

People also vote to save money. The government collects taxes to manage public projects. Every person pays a fraction of his/her salary or income from investments to the government. Therefore, people vote to elect politicians who they can trust with their money. They vote to get roads, police officers, and doctors, but not to over pay taxes. The manner of management of bond issues and proposition also determine how much property taxes people have to pay.

As another key point, people vote to save the world. There are numerous emerging global problems. Voters understand that electing visionary candidates can save the entire globe. Global warming is one of the global challenges that need redress (Willett).

In addition to voting to have leaders that take care of economic factors and energy requirements, people vote to protect the environment. Lobby groups do a marvelous work in the campaign for the protection of the environment. Nonetheless, they also vote. Lobby groups vote because they are determined to have governments that address environmental issues effectively.

The other reason for voting is the need to defend personal social a gender (Willett). Politicians enact Acts of parliament to restrict and protect social freedoms. Some of the freedoms legislators may put restriction on include prayer in schools, homosexuality, and marriage. Those who have concerns regarding any of the social laws do not vote candidates who cannot defend their rights. They vote candidates who can positively influence the social direction of life in the country.

Conclusively, there are several reasons for voting, but these are the key ones. Some people base their reasons on misconceptions. However, due to modernization, many people have access to information and easily make up their minds positively. People should investigate their true preferences to discover their rationales for voting. This will help them elect leaders with the people’s interests at heart.

Works Cited

Hardcastle, Mike . “Top 5 Reasons Youth Should Vote.” Teen Advice – Advice and Community For Teens . N.p., n.d. Web.

Willett, Brian. “Reasons to Vote in Elections | eHow.com.” Demand Media, Inc., n.d. Web.

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Importance of Voting Essay | Essay on Importance of Voting for Students and Children in English

February 14, 2024 by Prasanna

Importance of Voting Essay: A concept is well known by all democratic nations since most of the things are decided with elections. Different governors, mayors, judges, and presidents are all selected by the general population through the voting system, or else they are decided upon by the elected officials.

I personally believe that everyone should vote as everyone has a different opinion and in our Indian democracy we have the ability to choose who can preside over in the office, this also gives us an opportunity to have a say in this political world. The entire purpose of a democracy is to be able to have a say in the political scenario and this is to make sure everyone’s voice is heard and this is what makes up a democracy with everyone participating in it.

From a lot of the statistics, it is a known fact that young people don’t vote especially from the age ranging from 18 to 24. We can have different beliefs but this doesn’t mean you remove yourself from the electoral process. On hearing these statistics I was completely shocked because naturally, people tend to assume that everyone votes but that is not the case.

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Long and Short Essays on Importance of Voting for Students and Kids in English

Voting can be defined as a way of expressing one’s own preference or opinion. This is important as everyone can get a say in the crazy political world we live in and that is what makes up a democracy.

Short Essay on Importance of Voting 150 Words in English

Short Essay on Importance of Voting is usually given to classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Citizens of the country constantly complain about how our political climate is bad and worsening day by day and the honest truth is we have a chance to change it for the better. To make these changes we must vote by taking an informed vote and casting it as you should remember every vote counts.

It is mostly the youth of the country from age of 18 to 24 that tend to not vote and this causes a huge backlash in the system as these are the votes that we need. If you don’t like the way your country is running then change that by voting and don’t just complain.

“Voting is not just our right but our duty as well”, this saying goes a long way as it tells us clearly we have responsibilities as citizens of the country. To make sure we citizens run and take good care of our country we must put in our votes. A lot of the time people choose to believe that a single vote won’t make much of a difference but that is far from the truth and people must realize it as soon as possible.

Your choice of voting can have extreme consequences on the people from around the world who mostly do not have the right to vote. We must realize that a lot of the lawmakers are responsible for the various policies, laws, and infrastructure of the country for the future years and we are responsible for how these policies, law, and infrastructure is to turn out by voting.

A lot of people in other countries like Afghanistan cannot vote and some even die fighting for this very right. Most war-stricken countries have had their first elections in recent years even though most of the time they are threatened by the Taliban and certain terrorists. Superpower nation like America set certain policies which can have far-reaching impacts on countries that don’t have the same freedom as freedom of expression or the right to votes.

Citizens of the country constantly complain about how our political climate is bad and worsening day by day and the honest truth is we have a chance to change it for the better. To make these changes we must vote by taking an informed vote and casting it as you should remember every vote counts. It is the youth of the nation that does not vote and we have to change that as quickly as possible.

Long Essay on Importance of Voting 500 Words in English

Long Essay on Importance of Voting is usually given to classes 7, 8, 9, and 10.

The process by which people can express their political opinion is known as voting. Citizens of the country express their political opinion by choosing the desired political leader. This political leader, if he is a lawmaker, will have a huge impact on the way the country will presently run and also in the future, so to make sure we choose the right leader in a time when the political climate is constantly changing and we should be responsible citizens and cast our vote.

It is important to understand that election acts as a pillar for democracy because when all else fails we can still choose the right person to run the country. By not choosing the right leader a lot of people can be affected in the sense it can have far-reaching consequences on people who have nothing to do with our country. So we must understand that voting for the right person can have an impact all around us and can affect our country for a very long time. An election makes sure that the government is of the people, for the people, and by the people.

In an election, it is important to have suffrage which is the right to vote in elections. In India, the age of voting is attainable only at the age of 18, and in most countries where people have the right to vote have almost the same age limit. The electorate usually never includes the entire population. This question of how to have the privilege of voting is quite important. A very notable characteristic of elections is the nomination of a person. The nomination is the process of officially suggesting somebody for the public office and after the testimonials and endorsements are the various public statements that can help support a candidate’s nomination.

The electoral systems play a very vital role in the election. The electoral system includes the voting system and constitution arrangements. This is the process that converts a voting system into a proper political decision which can have long term effects on the country and its people.

In the process of voting the first step is the tally of votes. This is the use of the different ballot and counting systems. After this step, the result is determined based on the tally. Usually, the categorization of these systems can be majoritarian or proportional. Once the tally is over the person with the most tally wins the election. Elected officials are responsible to the people of the country so during different periods they must return to their voters, this is done so the elected officials can seek mandate so they can continue in office. Elections are conducted during fixed intervals of time. Elections can have far-reaching impacts on different parts of the world.

Over the recent past, it has become quite common to talk bad about the current elected leader of any legislative assembly or parliament. At the end of the day, the fault-finding comes down to what’s wrong with the system and how democracy isn’t functioning how it should. However, when speculating all the problems it never really bottles down to what the people can do to strengthen the system and bring change to it. Just as it is the responsibility of the elected leader to provide for the people of the country, we need the people to do our job and correct the leader by making sure he represents the right things and this can be done so by selecting the right candidate.

The right to vote is one of the few pillars of democracy. Therefore it is important that one must vote if he is able to and contribute to the country. A citizen shouldn’t find a reason as to not vote as it must be a compulsive duty and must come from within. Citizens of the country constantly complain about how our political climate is bad and worsening day by day and the honest truth is we have a chance to change it for the better.

To make these changes we must vote by taking an informed vote and casting it as you should remember every vote counts. I personally believe that everyone should vote as everyone has a different opinion and in our Indian democracy we have the ability to choose who can preside over in the office, this also gives us an opportunity to have a say in this political world.

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Essay on Why Is Voting Important

Students are often asked to write an essay on Why Is Voting Important in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Why Is Voting Important

What is voting.

Voting is when people choose who they want to make decisions in the government. It’s like picking a captain for your sports team, but for running the country or your local area.

Why Voting Matters

Voting is important because it lets you have a say in what happens around you. From the parks you play in, to the schools you learn in, voting affects many parts of your life.

Your Voice Counts

Even though you’re one person, your vote can make a big difference. Imagine if everyone thought their vote didn’t count; nothing would ever change. Voting is your chance to stand up for what you believe in.

In short, voting is a key part of having a say in how your community and country are run. It’s a powerful way for everyone, including you in the future, to shape the world they live in.

250 Words Essay on Why Is Voting Important

What makes voting important.

Shapes the Government: Your vote plays a crucial role in determining who leads your community or country. When you vote, you’re choosing the people who make decisions that directly impact your daily life. These decisions can range from education policies to healthcare and infrastructure development. Your vote helps shape the direction of your community or country.

Influences Policies: The decisions made by elected officials significantly impact various aspects of our lives. Whether it’s taxes, education, healthcare, or environmental regulations, your vote has the power to influence these policies. By voting, you’re helping to create a society that aligns with your values and beliefs.

Holds Leaders Accountable: One of the primary purposes of voting is to hold elected officials accountable for their actions. By voting, you’re sending a clear message to those in power that you’re watching their performance and holding them responsible for the decisions they make. This accountability ensures that your elected representatives work in the best interests of the community.

Strengthens Democracy: Voting is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy. It reinforces the principle that the people hold the power to shape their own destiny. When citizens actively participate in the electoral process, it demonstrates the strength and vitality of a democratic system. Your vote contributes to upholding the principles of democracy and ensuring that the government remains responsive to the needs of its citizens.

500 Words Essay on Why Is Voting Important

Why should we vote, our voice matters.

When you vote, you are exercising your right to have a say in how your community is run. You are choosing the people who will make decisions that affect your life, such as the quality of your schools, the safety of your streets, and the taxes you pay. Voting is one of the most important ways that you can make your voice heard and ensure that your concerns are represented in government.

Elections Have Consequences

Voting is a right.

Voting is a right that has been fought for and won by many people throughout history. In some countries, people still do not have the right to vote, so it is important to appreciate the opportunity that we have to participate in our democracy. Voting is a way to honor the sacrifices that others have made to ensure that we have a say in our government.

It’s Your Civic Duty

Voting is a civic duty. It is a responsibility that we have as citizens to participate in the democratic process. When you vote, you are not only exercising your right to have a say in how your community is run, you are also helping to ensure that our democracy remains strong.

The Future of Our Democracy

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Home — Essay Samples — Government & Politics — Voting — All Voices Count: Why Voting is Important

All Voices Count: Why Voting is Important

• Categories: Civil Rights Compulsory Voting Voting

About this sample

Words: 974 |

Published: Jan 28, 2021

Words: 974 | Pages: 2 | 5 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, historical context and the struggle for suffrage, safeguarding democracy and civic engagement, inclusivity and representation in governance, works cited.

• Ahrens, F. L. (2019). Voting rights in America: Examining the issue. ABC-CLIO.
• Browne-Marshall, G. (2017). The voting rights war: The NAACP and the ongoing struggle for justice. Rowman & Littlefield.
• Gilens, M. (2012). Affluence and influence: Economic inequality and political power in America. Princeton University Press.
• Keyssar, A. (2020). Why do we still have the Electoral College?. Harvard University Press.
• Lippmann, W. (2017). Public opinion. Routledge.
• McAdam, D., Tarrow, S., & Tilly, C. (2020). Dynamics of contention. Cambridge University Press.
• Skocpol, T., & Williamson, V. (Eds.). (2017). The Tea Party and the remaking of Republican conservatism. Oxford University Press.
• Smith, R. M. (2021). Voting rights and the Supreme Court. ABC-CLIO.
• Verba, S., Schlozman, K. L., & Brady, H. E. (2018). Voice and equality : Civic voluntarism in American politics. Harvard University Press.
• Wolfinger, R. E., & Rosenstone, S. J. (2016). Who votes?. Yale University Press.

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A life-changing habit: Five reasons why you should vote in every election

Does voting matter? The clear answer is “yes!”

Voting is a key element of civic engagement and a critical part of the democratic process. As the late civil rights icon and U.S. Rep. John Lewis said, “The vote is precious. It is almost sacred. It is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have in a democracy.” 

Voting can change your life. Here are five reasons to vote: 

In a democracy, you get a say in things that are important to you. Your vote holds elected officials accountable for their actions. It forces them to listen to you and the issues that most concern you. Your vote is your report card on lawmakers. If you’re not content with the job an elected official has done, you can use your vote to remove that official from office.

The policies shaped by elected officials affect your life. While federal elections typically have the largest voter turnouts, voting in your state and local elections is just as important. What happens in your town, city and state will affect your everyday life. Laws at the local level affect taxes, health and public safety, education, recreation, economic development and more. States regulate issues like health care and tenants’ rights. They determine how long children stay in school, manage infrastructure, spur job creation and do much more.

You pay taxes. Your vote gives power to the people who will spend your tax money . Help ensure that money is used in a responsible and efficient way by voting.

Rights are not necessarily guaranteed . Voting is one of the many privileges of living in a democratic society. While every American citizen has the right to vote today, we are seeing attacks on voting equity , including gerrymandering, voting restrictions, misinformation and election intimidation. Voting is a critical right we must protect, and that begins by exercising our right to vote in elections at every level of government.

You matter. Young voters bring diverse points of view on issues affecting their generation. Engaging in the process early will help make it a habit throughout your life, providing you with the opportunity to shape the future.

Bernadette Kinlaw is a copy editor for the Southern Poverty Law Center.

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The Singular Importance of Your Vote—And the Steps You Need To Take Before Election Day

"Some elections are razor-thin. In 2016, the margin of victory for Donald Trump in the swing states that he won was less than 1 percent," says Dr. Cobb. But it's not just the presidential election you need to think about every four years—between general elections, it's the midterms, it's all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, it's 100 seats in the Senate, it's 50 governorships, it's your mayor, it's ballot measures, and more, she adds. "Even if you're in a state where it's likely that one of the two major presidential candidates will win because it's a 'safe state,' there are other down-ballot races that are not necessarily safe. Your vote makes a huge difference."

• Lonna Atkeson, PhD , Lonna Atkeson, PhD, is a professor of political science at the University of New Mexico. Dr. Atkeson's general research program involves a wide number of subfields within political science including elections, campaigns, election administration, public opinion, political behavior, the media,...
• Rachael Cobb, PhD , chair and associate professor of government at Suffolk University

Simply put, voting is power, says Dr. Cobb. "The theory of democracy is that it is a government for and by the people, and the vote is the basic building block that gives people the power to control their government and to shape what policies they want and the future direction of their town, state, and country," she says, adding that your vote should serve as "the great equalizer." But that's not always the case.

There are many people for whom the right to vote is taken away. Discriminatory voter ID laws prevent millions of people from voting each year. Take for example a 2020 Supreme Court ruling that upheld a law requiring formerly incarcerated people to pay all fines and fees associated with their sentence before they're allowed to vote; it kept 1 million Floridians from voting .

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"Why would people spend so much time trying to take political power away from people?" asks Dr. Cobb. "Because political power actually matters. It makes a big difference in our lives, makes a big difference to the kind of economic power that we have to the distribution of government resources to communities. It makes a big difference to the kinds of policies that we're going to have in the future."

"Why would people spend so much time trying to take political power away from people?"

Lonna Atkeson, PhD , professor of political science at the University of New Mexico, explains that voting restrictions were brought over from Britain.

"[These laws] weren't initially discriminatory policies," says Dr. Atkeson. "When only white male property holders were allowed to vote, voting restrictions existed. After the Civil War, those same measures were used to deny African Americans the right to vote."

And these laws vary from state to state—in Vermont and Maine, for example, people in prison can vote . Dr. Atkeson explains that the ruling on Florida stems directly from a 2018 vote. Nearly two-thirds of voters in Florida chose to amend the state constitution and allow felons to vote. "What's the corrective measure? You create a new initiative and you put it on the ballot," says Dr. Atkeson. "The good thing is that democracy is an iterative process. And it's something that we're always building on and moving forward with."

Voting in the 2020 general election was especially tricky. Social distancing rules, paired with a high turnout of voters (as seen in the 2018 midterm elections and the 2020 primary elections ), made poll lines much longer. Millions of people, some for the first time, voted by mail, and not every state was properly equipped to handle such volume of absentee ballots. Washington, Oregon, and Colorado, vote completely by mail, and Montana and Arizona have a permanent vote by mail lists that include 70 percent of the state population. But other states aren't as accustomed to the vote-by-mail process.

"States that haven't built the [vote-by-mail] system, their voter registration file is a lot dirtier, with many more errors in it," says Dr. Atkeson. Using inaccurate lists to mail out ballots means many ballots may never arrive at their intended destinations. And if you make a mistake on your ballot such as the wrong zip code or omitting an apartment number, it might not be counted. An NPR analysis found that within the 2020 primary elections held before July 2020 "at least 65,000 absentee or mail-in ballots were rejected because they arrived past the deadline, often through no fault of the voter."

To make sure your vote counts, Dr. Cobb explains that you have to do a bit more planning than usual. First step, look to your state's website for voting information and instructions for how to register to vote —and do it now.

"There are a lot of organizations that are I think trying to do really good work, and I'm delighted that they're all out there doing it. But at the end of the day, it is the state that is providing the reliable information about when voting is going to happen and who to contact, etc. And in most states, that's the Secretary of State's website," says Dr. Cobb. "Look early at what the overall plan is in your state: Is there early voting? If there is early voting, where it is going to be held? What is the process of mail ballots? What do you feel comfortable doing? And then really having a plan for how you're going to vote."

"Serving as a poll worker is one of the best things you can do this year to serve your country."

If you're mailing your ballot, send it in as early as possible. If your state has early in-person voting, Dr. Cobb says to take advantage of it in order to prevent long lines on election day, when it's expected that there will be a shortage of poll workers. "Anybody who's interested in getting involved, serving as a poll worker is one of the best things you can do this year to serve your country," she says.

The right to vote is precious. If you have it, you should use it.

"It can be quite disconcerting to have a barrage of negative news every single day and feel powerless," says Dr. Cobb. "But there's actually nothing like participating and actually doing something that is also one of the like healthy things you can do for yourself and for your community. Staying on the sidelines is disempowering; voting is always empowering."

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Most Americans say it’s very important to vote to be a good member of society

Around seven-in-ten U.S. adults (69%) say it’s very important to vote in elections to be a good member of society – more than say the same about any of the other activities included in a Pew Research Center survey conducted earlier this year.

By comparison, fewer than half of Americans say it’s very important to get a COVID-19 vaccine (44%), to make choices that help reduce the effects of global climate change (42%), or to follow what’s happening in politics in their own country (37%) to be a good member of society. Fewer – around two-in-ten – say it’s very important to follow current events in other countries (22%) or attend religious services frequently (22%). And only 13% say it’s very important to join demonstrations about issues they think are important to be a good member of society.

This Pew Research Center analysis focuses on U.S. public opinion about what it means to be a good member of society. It is based on a survey of 3,581 U.S. adults conducted from March 21 to 27, 2022. Everyone who took part is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the ATP’s methodology . Here is the question used in this analysis, along with responses.

The comparison of responses by 2020 voter turnout relies on a measure of validated turnout among citizens who are currently at least 20 years old. Validated voters are citizens who told us that they voted in the 2020 general election and have a record for voting in that election in a commercial voter file. In an effort to accurately locate official voting records, up to three commercial voter files were searched for each panelist. The number of commercial files consulted varies by when a panelist was recruited to the ATP. Three files were used for panelists recruited in 2020 or before, while two were used for panelists recruited in 2021. Here are additional details about the voter validation process .  

Although Republicans and Democrats differ in some views of election rules and procedures , there are no partisan differences in the perceived importance of voting. Around seven-in-ten Democrats and independents who lean toward the Democratic Party (73%) and a similar share of Republicans and GOP leaners (70%) say voting is very important to being a good member of society. Past Pew Research Center surveys have found a similar pattern .

Republicans and Democrats also don’t differ when it comes to the importance of following what is happening in U.S. politics. Around four-in-ten in each party (37% of Republicans and 40% of Democrats) say it’s very important to follow politics to be a good member of society.

When it comes to the importance of following current events in other countries, Democrats are somewhat more likely than Republicans (26% vs. 18%) to say it’s very important. Democrats are also more likely than Republicans to say joining demonstrations is very important (17% vs. 8%), while Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say attending religious services regularly is very important (30% vs. 15%).  

Partisan divides are widest when it comes to the perceived importance of getting a COVID-19 vaccine and making choices to reduce the effects of climate change. In both cases, Democrats are more than 40 percentage points more likely than Republicans to see it as very important to being a good member of society. As Pew Research Center has previously found , the partisan gap in the perceived importance of getting a COVID-19 vaccine is the largest in the United States out of 19 countries surveyed this year. Climate change is also a key dividing line, with Democrats far more likely than Republicans to see it as a major threat .

Older and younger Americans diverge over what they see as very important for being a good member of society. Generally speaking, older people are more likely than younger people to find nearly all of the activities asked about to be very important. When it comes to voting, for example, 86% of those ages 65 and older say it’s very important, compared with around half (47%) of those under 30. On only two activities – making choices that help reduce the effects of climate change and joining demonstrations about issues people think are important – are older and younger people about equally likely to say it’s crucial for being a good member of society.

Americans with at least a college degree or more education are more likely than those without a college degree to see voting and getting a COVID-19 vaccine as very important. The opposite is true when it comes to attending religious services regularly, and there are no educational differences when it comes to the perceived importance of the other activities asked about in the survey.

2020 voter turnout was highest among those who see voting as very important

Do Americans who see voting as very important to being a good member of society actually follow through and vote? A separate analysis of 2020 turnout data suggests that the answer is yes.

Among those who say it’s very important to vote in order to be a good member of society, the vast majority (79%) cast a ballot in the 2020 election. Among those who say it’s somewhat important to vote to be a good member of society, far fewer (43%) cast a ballot in 2020. And around three-in-ten of those who see voting as either not too important (33%) or not important at all (30%) opted to vote in 2020.

Of course, there are many reasons why some Americans may not have cast a ballot in 2020, even if they generally see voting as an important civic duty.

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• Voter Participation

Laura Silver is an associate director focusing on global attitudes at Pew Research Center .

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Writing and Speaking about the Importance of Voting: Why Vote?

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In this unit, students will be introduced to their performance task for this module, a Public Service Announcement (PSA) about the importance of voting. This unit connects students’ study of the Women’s Suffrage Movement in Units 1 and 2 to voting in the present day, specifically the issue of low voter turnout among young adults. Students will take their own steps towards being a “leader of change” and “making a difference” by creating a PSA with the purpose of educating young people about the importance of voting.

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• lesson 3: How Text Structures Support Ideas: Analyzing Text Structures in “Youth-Power”
• lesson 4: Synthesizing from Multiple-Texts: Synthesizing Ideas about Why Voting is Important
• lesson 5: Mid-Uni-3 Assessment: Reading and Comparing New Informational Texts about Voting
• lesson 6: Writing a Public Service Announcement: Planning the Opinion and Reasons
• lesson 7: Writing a Public-Service-Announcement: Planning/Drafting a PSA: The Importance of Voting
• lesson 8: Writing a Public-Service-Announcement: Revising a PSA: The Importance of Voting
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• lesson 10: End-of-Unit-3-Assessment: Presenting a Public-Service Announcement about the Importance of Voting

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Importance of Voting Essay: Why Every Citizen Should Exercise Their Right to Vote

Voting is a fundamental right and duty of every responsible citizen to make a strong democracy. Elections are going on some the states presently, therefore, the topics has become one of the most important essay topics for all competitive as well as academic exam.

Essay on Importance of Voting

Voting is a fundamental right and duty of every citizen in a democratic society. The act of voting allows citizens to have a say in the selection of leaders who will represent them and make decisions on their behalf. In a democratic system, voting ensures that power rests with the people rather than in the hands of a select few. Despite the importance of voting, many individuals do not exercise this right. Lets discuss the importance of voting and highlight why every citizen should vote.

Importance of Voting in Promoting Democracy

One of the primary reasons why voting is crucial is that it promotes democracy . In a democratic society, citizens elect their leaders through a voting process. The leaders then represent the interests of the citizens and make decisions on their behalf. Through voting, citizens can choose leaders who will advance their interests and promote the common good. By voting, citizens participate in the democratic process and contribute to shaping the future of their country.

Importance of Voting to Ensures Equal Representation

Another essential aspect of voting is that it ensures equal representation. In a democracy, every citizen has a voice and the right to vote. Regardless of one’s social status, wealth, or education, every vote counts equally. When citizens vote, they ensure that they are adequately represented in government. The government must then consider the views of all citizens, regardless of their background or socio-economic status. This helps to prevent the domination of any particular group in society.

Importance of Voting in Encouraging Civic Responsibility

Voting is not only a right, but it is also a civic responsibility. By voting, citizens contribute to the development and progress of their country. It is essential for citizens to participate in the democratic process and have a say in the decisions that affect their lives. Voting is an excellent way to show civic responsibility and a commitment to the future of the country.

Importance of Voting in Empowering Citizens

Voting is a powerful tool that empowers citizens. Through voting, citizens can influence the policies and decisions made by their government. This is particularly important for marginalized groups who may otherwise have little voice in society. By voting, these groups can elect leaders who will represent their interests and promote policies that benefit them. Voting also empowers citizens to hold their leaders accountable for their actions. If leaders fail to deliver on their promises, citizens can vote them out of office during the next election.

Voting Shapes the Future

The act of voting shapes the future of a country. By participating in the democratic process, citizens have a say in the direction that their country takes. They can choose leaders who will promote policies that align with their values and priorities. Voting allows citizens to contribute to the shaping of their country’s future, and this is a critical aspect of democracy.

Voting is a Fundamental Right

Voting is a fundamental right and it must be protected. In many countries, individuals have had to fight for their right to vote. This is because the right to vote is closely linked to the right to self-determination and freedom. By exercising their right to vote, citizens can help to preserve and strengthen their democracy.

Importance of Voting in Enhancing Political Stability

Voting is essential for promoting political stability. When citizens vote, they provide a mandate to their elected leaders. This mandate gives the government the legitimacy to make decisions and implement policies. When citizens do not vote, the government may lack the mandate to govern effectively, and this can lead to instability. By voting, citizens can help to ensure that their government is stable and effective.

Importance of Voting in Reflecting National Identity

Voting is an important aspect of national identity. In many countries, voting is seen as a crucial part of national identity and a symbol of citizenship. When citizens vote, they demonstrate their commitment to their country and its future. By participating in the democratic process, citizens can also demonstrate their understanding of the issues facing their country and their willingness to contribute to finding solutions.

Importance of Voting in Increasing Participation in the Political Process

Voting increases participation in the political process. When citizens vote, they engage with the political process and become more aware of the issues facing their country. This increased awareness can encourage citizens to become more politically active and engage in other ways, such as volunteering, advocating for causes, and contacting their elected officials. Through voting, citizens can become more involved in the political process and help to shape the future of their country.

Importance of Voting in Protecting Human Rights

Voting is also important for protecting human rights. In a democratic society, citizens have the right to participate in the political process and to have a say in the decisions that affect their lives. When citizens vote, they help to protect these rights and ensure that they are upheld by the government. By participating in the democratic process, citizens can also help to prevent the violation of human rights by holding their leaders accountable.

In conclusion, voting is an essential aspect of democracy that every citizen should exercise. Through voting, citizens can promote democracy, ensure equal representation, encourage civic responsibility, empower themselves, shape the future of their country, and protect their fundamental rights. It is essential for citizens to take their civic duty seriously and participate in the democratic process by voting in every election and make free and fair election. By doing so, citizens can contribute to building a better and more equitable society for all.

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If you care about social impact, why is voting important?

Your civic duty isn't the only reason your vote matters.

On this page:

• Introduction
• 1 Why is voting important? It’s not just about civic duty.
• 2 The probability of one vote changing an election
• 3 Governments are so large which raises the expected value of voting
• 4 What if you’re wrong?
• 5 Is deciding how to vote too much effort?
• 6 How much does it cost to drive one extra vote?
• 7 Overall, is it altruistic to vote?

Could one vote — your vote — swing an entire election? Most of us abandoned this seeming fantasy not too long after we learned how elections work.

But the chances are higher than you might think. If you’re in a competitive district in a competitive election, the odds that your vote will flip a national election often fall between 1 in 1 million and 1 in 10 million.

That’s a very small probability, but it’s big compared to your chances of winning the lottery, and it’s big relative to the enormous impact governments can have on the world.

Each four years the United States federal government allocates $17,500,000,000,000, so a 1 in 10 million chance of changing the outcome of a US national election gives an average American some degree of influence over $1.75 million.

That means the expected importance of voting — the probability of changing an election’s result multiplied by the impact if you do — might, depending on your personal circumstances, be very high.

This could, in itself, be a good argument for voting.

Fortunately there is a significant amount of academic research on the importance of elections and how likely one vote is to change the outcome, so I’ve pulled it together to estimate the average value of one vote for the right person.

The answer, as you might expect, depends a great deal on the circumstances of any given election, and indeed most votes predictably have no impact.

But there are common situations in which the expected value of casting a vote will be far higher than anything else you could hope to do in the same amount of time.

Why exactly? Let me explain.

Table of Contents

Why is voting important? It’s not just about civic duty.

In this article, we’ll demonstrate that, for many people, voting is important, but not (or at least not only) because of the normal arguments about it being your civic duty.

Your vote could actually change the world for the better, and if you’re in a competitive race the chances are high enough that you should think hard about hitting the voting booth.

First I’ll investigate the two key things that determine the impact of your vote:

• The chances of your vote changing an election’s outcome in a range of different situations
• How much better some candidates are for the world as a whole, compared to others

Then I’ll discuss what I think are the best arguments against the importance of voting elections:

• If an election is competitive, that means other people disagree about which option is better, and you’re at some risk of voting for the worse candidate by mistake.
• While voting itself doesn’t take long, knowing enough to accurately pick which candidate is better for the world actually does take substantial effort — effort that could be better allocated elsewhere.

Finally we’ll look into the impact of donating to campaigns or working to ‘get out the vote’, which can be effective ways to generate additional votes for your preferred candidate.

We’ll use figures for United States presidential elections, because they have an unusually large impact on our priority problems , more of our readers are American citizens than any other single nationality, and more work has been done to model them than other kinds of elections. However, similar reasoning can be applied to elections in other countries.

The probability of one vote changing an election

Given how infrequently national elections are won by one vote, we can’t just look at the historical record and observe the fraction for which that’s true. While we do have examples of large tied elections , there’ll never be enough real-life elections to accurately determine their frequency empirically.

We need a different approach: statistical modelling.

To see how the method works, we can start small. Imagine that you’re on a small committee making a decision. The odds that you’ll change the outcome of a vote like that — assuming 2 options and 4 other voters, each 50% likely to vote for either option — is about 19% . We could confirm that empirically if we liked.

We can then work upwards to the size of national elections: with 8 voters it’s 14% , with 16 voters it’s about 10%, with 32 voters about 7%, and so on. In fact, the likelihood you’ll change the outcome ends up being roughly proportional to one over the square root of the number of voters.

Statisticians who specialise in politics add real polling data to the mix, and compare it to actual election results to figure out how accurately polling predicts how people will vote. This gives them a ‘probability distribution’ for the likelihood that each elector will choose to vote for each candidate.

With all of this information in hand, we can go ahead and model tens of billions of elections to estimate how often the entire result will be changed by a single vote.

The famous statistician Andrew Gelman of Columbia University has done just this for US presidential elections, which are broken down into states, and has published several papers outlining the results. 1 2

He found that if you’re in a ‘safe state’ like California, the odds of your vote changing the outcome of a presidential election really is effectively zero (the model spits out 1 in 100 trillion, but it’s very hard to assign meaningful probabilities to something so unlikely). Something similar would be true for voters in ‘very safe seats’ in the UK or Australia.

By contrast, in a small US state polling around 50/50 in a close election nationally — for instance New Mexico, Iowa, or New Hampshire in the 2000 elections — the probability could get as high as 1 in 3 million. (The article Vote for Charity’s Sake offers a nice overview of this research, and we’ve stuck some details in this footnote.)

In a wider range of ‘tipping point states’ in reasonably close elections, the probability is lower, and closer to 1 in 10 million.

(Note that what matters isn’t the state in which polling is closest, but rather the states that might put someone over the edge of winning the election as a whole — the ‘tipping point state’. If one candidate is ahead nationally then they’ll probably be ahead in the ‘tipping point state’ too.)

As of October 14 2020, Joe Biden’s substantial lead in public opinion polls means Gelman’s modelling indicates that there are only four states where the odds of one vote changing the outcome is greater than 1 in 10 million: New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan. 3

However, a perhaps unexpected finding is that even when an election doesn’t look that close, the probability of one vote changing the outcome in a potential ‘tipping point state’ rarely falls to less than half of what it would be in a close-seeming election. This is shown visually in the figure below from FiveThirtyEight’s election modelling. The underlying reason is that opinion polls are often off by a large margin, so when an election is close on election day we can’t rule out that it will be a blow-out for one side — and, similarly, even when a candidate seems to be substantially ahead, we can’t confidently rule out the election being close.

In the UK or Australia, an equivalent analysis would look at the likelihood that a party gains a majority in parliament by one seat, and that that seat is won by one vote.

The factors that push up the leverage of each voter are:

• An election being close to 50/50 nationally
• An election being close to 50/50 in a given ‘tipping point’ seat or voting region
• Being able to accurately determine which elections are closest
• Being able to accurately identify which seats or regions are closest (in which case expected influence becomes concentrated in those places)
• Fewer total voters

Australia has a tenth as many voters as the US, and the UK has a fifth — which, all else equal, would make each vote 2-3x more likely to flip the outcome of a close election. 4 Polling is similarly precise in all of these different countries. And the likely ‘tipping point’ seats in US, UK and Australian elections all contain a similar fraction of the population — 10 to 20% — so power is concentrated in a similarly-sized subset of voters.

So from the above we can anticipate that in a similarly tight election, in a ‘tipping point seat’, the odds of a vote changing the outcome would be a few times higher in those countries than in the US.

A similar analysis can be applied to any sort of election.

A common objection to this line of reasoning is that if an election is as close as one vote, it will be re-run or decided by the courts anyway, and so a single vote can never actually make a difference.

To see how this is mistaken, you need to conceptualise the vote margin in large elections as shifting the probability of each candidate winning. If you’re ahead, each extra vote makes you more likely to win without a court battle or a re-run. And if you’re narrowly behind, each extra vote increases your chances of successfully disputing the result. So long as we’re unsure what the vote margin will be, the expected impact of each extra vote remains the same as it would be if all its impact were entirely concentrated on a perfectly tied election.

Finally, there’s another quite different way one can model the impact that each vote has, but it won’t much change our conclusion, so for simplicity I’ll leave it in this footnote. 5

Alright, now that we have a sense of the likelihood of swinging an election, we need to know how valuable it would be to do so.

Governments are so large which raises the expected value of voting

Compared to the likelihood of a vote changing the outcome of an election, how much it matters who wins i) is harder to quantify, ii) depends more on your values, and iii) varies widely depending on the candidates running for office. But a quick scan of the numbers and issues at stake suggests that the impact will often be substantial.

In most rich countries, governments tax and spend 25-55% of a country’s GDP. As a rule of thumb, you can roughly think of them as directing a third of a country’s income.

That’s enough money per person, and per vote, that positively influencing how it’s spent can be important enough to offset the low chances of any given vote swinging an election.

Again using US to illustrate, over the next four years 6 the US federal government will spend about $17.5 trillion .

Written out as a number it looks like $17,500,000,000,000. That’s $53,000 for each American, or $129,000 for each vote cast in 2016.

If you multiply all that spending through a 1 in 10 million chance of changing the outcome, in a swing state like New Hampshire, it comes to $1.75 million. That’s the fraction of the budget you might ‘expect’ to influence by voting in a swing state, in the statistical sense of expectation .

If that number sounds unexpectedly large, remember that we’re shifting around roughly a third of the economy’s output, over several years, and we’re concentrating on the impact a voter can have if they’re among the privileged 20% of the country that lives in a state which can plausibly determine the election outcome.

In the US’s state-based system, 80% of eligible voters can’t hope to change the outcome — but that leaves the remaining 20% with 5 times the leverage they’d have otherwise.

Of course, much of the US federal budget is quite stable, but keep in mind that stickiness in how money gets spent cuts both ways: it makes it harder to shift the budget, but if you do, it means those changes will probably stay around for longer.

It’s common for parties to want to shift how several percent of GDP gets spent. But the budget doesn’t even have to be that flexible for your impact to matter.

For example, if one party will spend 0.5% of GDP on foreign aid, and the other will spend 0.3%, a vote with a 1 in 10 million chance of changing the outcome would shift — in expectation — $17,800 into foreign aid.

There are other kinds of government spending that can have huge impacts as well: R&D into new clean energy technologies is probably one of the most cost-effective ways to limit climate change, and think about the enormous return the world is getting from countries like the UK that decided, years ago, to fund preliminary research into coronavirus vaccines.

But choosing which taxes to impose and how to spend the money raised is just one thing the government does, one which happens to be easy to quantify in dollar terms.

There are major non-budgetary impacts as well, which include:

• Foreign policy: Elected governments decide things such as how much to trade with foreigners (which can affect their wellbeing too), how much to raise tensions with other countries in pursuit of foreign policy goals, and ultimately whether to go to war. Foreign policy is often determined without a lot of input from legislatures, which means a few elected officials have substantial discretion — and that’s especially important for countries with large militaries or nuclear weapons.
• Stabilising the business cycle: Governments work to raise total spending during recessions and decrease total spending when inflation is too high, in order to limit excessive ups and downs in the economy.
• Regulations: Elected governments make decisions about all sorts of regulations, for instance on consumer products, workplace conditions, environmental standards, and so on.
• Immigration: Elected governments decide how many foreigners can come live in a country and on what basis, ranging from skilled migrants, to economic migrants, to political refugees.
• Social freedoms: Elected governments can influence whether LGBTQ+ people can be public about their sexual orientation and whether they can get married, which recreational drugs people are free to use, how police go about enforcing laws, whether voluntary euthanasia is permitted, and so on.
• Political freedom: Elected governments can try to entrench themselves, or reduce the ability of the public to reflect on political questions, by harassing political opponents, being generally misleading, shutting down hostile media outlets, or making it harder for people to vote.

Measuring the social impact of the different approaches governments might take to these issues is difficult. But it could easily be more important than the shifts in spending that result from a change in government.

To illustrate, imagine that you think the chance of a nuclear war over four years under one presidential candidate is 1 in 1,000, and the chance with the other is 1 in 500. While highly uncertain, these probabilities are both figures nuclear security specialists might give if you asked them about the likelihood of nuclear war. How valuable would it be to vote for the safer leader?

To answer this, we can think about how much society would be willing to pay to avoid a nuclear war. It’s really hard to estimate, but let’s spitball it and say that each US resident would be willing to pay $1 million to avoid dying in a nuclear war, on average. (For comparison, the US government will spend about $7 million or so to save a life.) A total nuclear war would kill around 80% of the US population. 7 If you do the math, then a vote with a 1 in 10 million chance of changing the election outcome would be worth $25,000 to your fellow citizens through its effects on the likelihood of a nuclear war alone. And a nuclear war would obviously also affect people overseas, as well as untold future generations.

The policies which are most impactful are not always the most salient. George W. Bush’s famous choice to pursue the Iraq War resulted in the removal of Saddam Hussein, though at the cost of hundreds of thousands of civilian lives and trillions of dollars in spending. 8 But President Bush also dramatically raised US spending on antiviral drugs for impoverished victims of HIV in Africa. This ‘PEPFAR’ program probably would not have been pursued in his absence, and likely prevented several million deaths .

Though the above is not a systematic survey, and some examples are atypical, to me they suggest that the outcome of elections will often have significant consequences.

Of course, not every election is that important. Sometimes all the candidates likely to win an election are similarly good overall, or if one of them is better it’s hard to figure out which it is.

In particular, within some electoral systems — for instance those with compulsory voting and electoral candidates chosen by politicians or party professionals — the tendency for parties to strategically bunch together in the middle of the political spectrum is strong.

More stark differences tend to arise in places with low voter turnout, few checks on executive power, plurality voting along with more than 2 viable candidates, and party primaries in which only the most motivated voters participate. In those elections the differences between candidates tend to be larger, meaning it’s more often important for the right group to win, and it’s easier to tell which group that is.

What if you’re wrong?

So far I’ve argued that voting can represent a great opportunity for social impact if:

• You’re in a close district in a close election
• There is a noticeable difference in the desirability of different candidates winning

But there’s a sophisticated argument against this view:

You can only swing an election if roughly as many people are voting for the outcome you prefer as the outcome you oppose. But if the public as a whole is roughly split down the middle, why should you trust your own judgement on the matter? Sure, you’ve looked into it and think that your view is right. But so have many other voters and about half of them still disagree with you. So because there’s no principled reason to trust your judgement over that of others, even after doing your political research you should still think you’re only about 50% likely to be voting the right way.

This is an application of the case for epistemic modesty , and it has some bite. If you think half of your fellow voters are getting things wrong, why should you think you’re getting it right?

This uncertainty about whether you’re truly voting the right way reduces the expected value of voting. If you had no confidence at all in your judgement — in other words, if you thought you were as likely to be wrong as you were to be right — the expected value would fall all the way to zero.

However, to go as far as that this case for intellectual modesty requires that other voters be your ‘epistemic peers’ — basically that they be as smart, informed, honest, and motivated as you. And there are a number of reasons you might think you can cast a ballot more wisely and altruistically than average.

First, the level of information most voters have about politics and policy is quite low. Some typical examples in the US, taken from Ilya Somin’s 2013 book Democracy and Political Ignorance include:

• “A survey before the 2014 election … found that only 38 percent of Americans knew that the Republicans controlled the House of Representatives at the time, and the same number knew that the Democrats had a majority in the Senate. Not knowing which party controls these institutions makes it difficult for voters to assign credit or blame for their performance.”

“For years, there has been an ongoing debate over the future of federal spending… Yet a 2014 survey found that only 20 percent of Americans realize that the federal government spends more money on Social Security than on foreign aid, transportation, and interest on the government debt. Some 33 percent believe that foreign aid is the biggest item on this list, even though it is actually the smallest, amounting to about one percent of the federal budget, compared with 17 percent for Social Security.”

“In 1964, in the midst of the Cold War, only 38 percent were aware that the Soviet Union was not a member of the U.S-led NATO alliance.”

This should not be surprising and in my view is no reason to think poorly of your fellow citizens. People have jobs to do, family members to take care of, and personal projects to pursue. For most folks, following the ins and outs of policy debates is neither easy nor rewarding, and because they don’t live in close districts it’s not the best way for them to improve the world, either. On top of that, following the news can be bad for people’s focus and mental health .

While the polling above appears dismal, there is an active academic debate about how problematic it really is for voters to lack the basic knowledge they would seemingly need to vote wisely. The damage is partly reduced by uninformed voters making different random errors that cancel out, people using heuristics like ‘am I better off than I was four years ago’, and politicians paying attention to things voters are more likely to know (e.g. ‘I want better healthcare’) while ignoring their views on things they won’t (e.g. how best to organise a healthcare system).

Nonetheless, for our purposes the fact remains that simply looking up basic background information — like who is in government, where different parties or people stand on the issues, what experts say about those issues when surveyed, and so on — will give you a big edge over others when it comes to determining which candidate will produce better outcomes.

If you’re trying to figure out how best to treat a disease you have, it’s one thing to think you can do better than your doctor, and quite another to think you can do better than a random stranger.

Secondly, if you’ve read this article to this point, you’re likely unusually interested in figuring out which election outcome is best for the world as a whole.

But not all voters focus on that question. Some always vote for the same party as a matter of habit, without giving much thought to the expected impact on the world. Others care about which outcome is best for them and their family, or the country in which they live. Others vote to express their ideals, or their loyalty to a group, or just for fun.

If you truly aspire to vote for the outcome that is ideal for the whole world, considering everyone’s wellbeing in an impartial way, you are more likely to succeed at that goal than the many other voters who aren’t even trying.

Finally, even if it were individually rational to decide there’s no value in trying to figure out the right way to vote because of ‘epistemic modesty’, the approach would foster collective laziness — leading all voters to be less informed than they otherwise would be, and likely worsening political outcomes. That would make it strange to recommend it to you all as a general policy.

Overall, while the risk of mistakenly voting for the wrong candidate reduces the value of voting, I don’t think it reduces it dramatically — at least not in the most important cases, where the difference between your options is a stark one.

If you think your research can get you to be 75% confident about which candidate is better, that is half as valuable as being 100% confident you’re making the right decision.

Is deciding how to vote too much effort?

While we haven’t been able to place a clear dollar value on a vote in a close district in a close election, we saw that in the United States each of those votes influences more than a million dollars worth of government spending, and could have the same or greater impact in other ways.

This suggests that a vote for someone who substantially increases the value of that spending — or otherwise improves government policy — could be worth the equivalent of tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to your fellow citizens.

If you divide that by the time it takes to vote — minutes in some countries, hours in others — this looks like a great opportunity to do good.

Compare it to earning money to give to the very best charity you can find: even if you assume that the organisation can turn $1 into something as valuable as giving other people in your country $100, you’d need to be able to give ~$1,000 in an hour to make it as valuable as a vote worth $100,000.

But the true cost of voting is much more than the time it takes to vote. In practice you need to do the research described above to figure out who is best to vote for. This additional effort substantially reduces the good you can do per hour.

Some people will follow politics and policy and form views about who it is best to vote for regardless. For them, figuring out how to vote is not an additional cost beyond what they are doing anyway. They may even find the process fun or energising.

But others don’t like politics and wouldn’t spend any time on it unless they felt it was their responsibility to do so. For them we can think of each hour spent deciding who to vote for as substituting for an hour of work or study that they could have otherwise directed towards improving the world.

How long does it take to decide how to vote? That will depend a lot on the election and how difficult it is to analyse the issues at stake. In some countries one party is clearly far more focused on the wellbeing of the world as a whole, or simply far more competent, than the other. But in other countries it’s legitimately hard to tell what outcome will be best.

Hypothetically, we can imagine someone who doesn’t follow politics at all between elections, and then tunes in to make a decision on who to vote for, and starts reading to try to make an informed choice. If this would require them to do the equivalent of a week’s work, it would increase the effective cost of voting 10-100 fold.

If they’re in a high-impact job already, working to solve a pressing global problem, it would be easy to see how it could be better for them to remain focused on the work in which they’re most specialised, and leave politics to others. Depending on someone’s salary, working for a week and donating the money to an effective charity could also easily be more impactful than doing research and then casting a vote.

If you’re short of time, I can think of two shortcuts you could use to quickly cast a vote that’s more likely to be for the right person than the wrong one.

The first is just to find someone you think is bright, shares your values, and follows politics more than you do, and ask them who to vote for.

The second is to look at opinion polling globally. Even if your country is split down the middle, the world as a whole might very strongly prefer one candidate, 9 which is a very important piece of information from an ‘epistemic modesty’ perspective. Foreigners don’t get to vote in other countries’ elections, but they too have preferences about the outcome, are affected by the results, and their outside perspective might even give them insights that locals are missing.

Regardless, one thing to remember is that it will be easiest to tell which candidate is best to vote for in an election in which the difference is large — and these are also the elections in which a vote is of greatest value.

Another is that political participation is open to anyone who, for one reason or another, doesn’t have an especially impactful job at the time.

It’s hard to give general advice here, because in addition to all the variables like election closeness discussed above, individual voter’s opportunity costs vary a great deal. But if I had to give a rule I would say:

• If you already follow politics well enough to vote wisely (and you’d vote in a close election, etc.), it will often make sense to vote.

If you wouldn’t follow politics except in order to have a social impact, and you have the opportunity to instead spend the requisite time specialising in a high-impact job working on a pressing problem , or earning to give for effective charities, or something similar, that will often be the better option.

How much does it cost to drive one extra vote?

What if you think the outcome of an election is important enough that you want to do more than just vote yourself?

For most of us, the low hanging fruit is to contact friends and family in competitive districts, encourage them to vote, and make the case for our preferred candidate. Unsurprisingly research shows that personal appeals from friends and family have a big impact, and have 10 times or more than the effect of an appeal from a stranger.

But having exhausted your friends, you might decide you want to give money to a campaign as well. How much do you have to give to get your candidate one extra vote?

With billions of dollars spent on political advocacy in the US each year, this has been the focus of substantial research. Campaigns can randomly target ‘get out the vote’ efforts on some voters and not others, and then see how much more likely those voters are to show up.

This table from the 2015 edition of Get Out The Vote summarises the results of those sort of experiments, with the cost per vote in the final column:

According to these studies, for those methods shown to work — such as door-knocking or phone-banking — persuading one stranger to vote for your preferred candidate costs $30-100, or a few hours of work as a volunteer.

If, having compared the candidates and the closeness of the election, you think a vote for the right person is in some sense worth thousands of dollars, that sounds pretty good. However, it has to be compared to the best alternative ways to use your money to improve the world, which may also offer a huge return on investment.

On top of that I’ve been advised by researchers I trust, who have investigated the topic in detail, that these figures are underestimates, at least for the big elections you’re most likely to follow.

That’s for multiple reasons. One is that all results in social science tend to look weaker over time as they’re scrutinised and people attempt to replicate them.

Another is that political campaigns, at least in the US, have more money for each voter they’re chasing than they did in the past. New technologies also make them better at targeting the voters most likely to be convinced. As a result, swing voters in swing states are already contacted with campaign messages again and again, reducing the impact of any further prompts.

For instance, a 2020 paper looking at TV ads in recent US presidential elections suggested a cost per vote of $100-1,000, which is probably now more typical.

However, not all campaigns are as well resourced, and the less funding they have the cheaper it’s likely to be for them to find additional supporters.

The campaigns for Joe Biden and Donald Trump, along with allied groups, are likely to have about $30 per voter in potential tipping point states. Both have set new fundraising records for presidential campaigns. 10

But the Biden campaign had just a tenth as much — $3 per voter — in the 2020 Democratic primaries through Super Tuesday (after which the primaries began to wind down).

That difference is even starker when you consider that a much larger fraction of voters are open to switching their support in primary elections than in general elections (though keep in mind the differences between candidates within a party are less than the differences between parties).

This level of funding in general elections is somewhat unique to the US. Different campaign finance arrangements mean that parties in the UK and Australia both have closer to $10 per voter in a marginal seat. 11 12

In these circumstances the experiments suggesting a cost of $40-100 per vote could even be overestimates, but I haven’t yet investigated the research on the impact of campaign spending outside the US.

The question of when political campaigns are the best use of someone’s charitable giving is also beyond the scope of this article, and seems likely to hinge on how well funded the campaigns are and how large the difference is between candidates.

But if you can encourage someone to vote for <$100, while you think the social value of an extra vote is >$10,000, then it should be possible to make a case that it’s competitive with other options. That is something I hope to investigate in more detail in future.

And if voting yourself is worthwhile, contacting friends and family to encourage them to do the same will also usually be above the bar.

Overall, is it altruistic to vote?

The answer is clearly yes, under the following conditions:

• The election concerns important issues, such as the allocation of large amounts of money, or the foreign policy of a country with a large military
• One candidate is substantially better than the other, and you’re in a position to know which one that is
• The election is somewhat competitive, and you’re able to vote in a competitive seat, or district, or state

In a situation like that, the hour you spend voting is likely to be the most impactful one in your entire year, and could on average get you some influence over how hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars are spent. For this reason I vote whenever I get the chance.

When they vote, some of my friends feel very nervous about whether they’re voting for the right person. While there’s a lot they don’t know, surveys how much the public knows about policy issues suggest that they’re a lot more informed than the average voter, and so their input should increase the odds of the better candidate winning. We shouldn’t make the perfect the enemy of the good.

All of that said, I respect people who consciously opt out of following politics, in order to preserve their focus on other important work that improves the world. Following politics and developing informed views can absorb a great deal of time. While spending one hour voting is highly impactful, spending hundreds of hours tracking politics in between elections isn’t — at least if you aren’t regularly taking action based on what you’re learning.

Finally, while persuading other people to vote takes more time or money than simply voting yourself, in elections where you’re confident one candidate is much better for the world than another, joining or donating to a political campaign may also represent a high-impact way of improving the world.

Has this article helped you better estimate how important it is to vote?

As we noted above, appeals from people they know are much more likely to influence people’s behaviour than TV ads or impersonal mail. Some experiments suggest a personal appeal from a friend could increase someone’s likelihood of voting by as much as 10 percentage points. So consider sharing this article with your friends.

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Notes and references

i. Probability of Events that Have Never Occurred: When Is Your Vote Decisive? ii. What is the probability that your vote will make a difference? iii. Empirically investigating the electoral college

In these papers the authors look at various historical presidential elections from the perspective of someone who has access to polling data a few weeks ahead of the vote. With what likelihood should they have expected that one vote would change the outcome?

The first found a probability of 1 in 10 million of a typical single vote being decisive in 1992, with a chance of 1 in 3.5 million for a swing state such as Vermont. The second found a probability of 1 in 60 million for a single vote in a random state, and 1 in 10 million for swing states such as New Mexico or Virginia. That compares to an electorate of around 120 million voters.

As they put it:

‘A probability of 1 in 10 million is tiny but, as discussed by Edlin, Gelman, and Kaplan (2007), can provide a rational reason for voting; in this perspective, a vote is like a lottery ticket with a 1 in 10 million chance of winning, but the payoff is the chance to change national policy and improve (one hopes) the lives of hundreds of millions, compared to the alternative if the other candidate were to win.’

The third paper also looks at the presidential election in 2000, the closest in modern history, and (using a rougher methodology) found that the probability of an average vote changing the outcome was around 1 in 6 million in 2000. If we take the same range from an average to swing state proposed in the second paper, that suggests that voters in the key swing states could have a 1 in 2 million chance of swinging the election.

The reality is that in most states, including California, New York or Texas, an additional vote has no ability to swing the outcome, because these states are not close themselves. Even if they were close, they couldn’t swing the electoral college from one candidate to another, because a close election in California implies an incredibly unbalanced election in the rest of the country. Almost all of their influence instead becomes concentrated on a handful of swing states. ↩

• This piece also builds upon previous articles from the rationality community such as Politics as Charity by Carl Shulman and Voting is like donating thousands of dollars to charity . ↩
• You can see a current and easy-to-read version of the model here , updated figures here , and the numbers we used from October 14 here . ↩
• The chance of a tie in an election with perfectly even polling is proportional to 1 over the square root of the number of voters, and note that sqrt(10) = 3.2 and sqrt(5) = 2.2. ↩

Political parties and candidates know they’re in a competitive and strategic race to get the most votes. If they can’t get elected they can’t achieve anything, so they constantly adapt their positions, and add or remove interest groups from their coalition, to ensure they have a decent chance of winning.

If young voters in the US suddenly started voting at the same rate as seniors — 70% rather than 42% — any political party that didn’t adjust its positions to increase its appeal to those voters would quickly become irrelevant.

So rather than thinking of your vote as having a tiny chance of completely swinging an election outcome, you can instead think of it as having a high chance of nudging every party just a little bit in the direction of the political views held by you and people like you. This is one reason there’s still value in voting, even if this year’s election doesn’t happen to be especially close: by indicating you’ll vote in future years you give politicians much more reason to appeal to you.

I’ll also just add that in multi-party systems, such as those involving proportional representation, rather than completely flip an election result your vote is more likely to change which grouping of parties forms a coalition government, and their relative influence within the coalition.

What both of these alternative analyses have in common is that they replace a very small chance of a hugely valuable outcome, with a higher chance of a somewhat less valuable outcome.

While formalising either of these models is going to be more challenging, I expect that these two changes will usually roughly cancel out, leaving the overall expected value about the same. ↩

As you can vote in all of these elections simultaneously (and often state and local election too!), and on average their terms are four years each, for simplicity I’ll treat them though they were all elected simultaneously each four years.

As you might expect, if you can vote in marginal elections for two of these bodies at once the case for voting will be about twice as strong as if you can only do so for one. ↩

• See this book on the likely deaths from a nuclear war. ↩
• From Wikipedia : “Body counts counted at least 110,600 violent deaths as of April 2009 (Associated Press). The Iraq Body Count project documents 185,000 – 208,000 violent civilian deaths through Feb 2020 in their table.” ↩
• Ipsos: A global view of the 2020 US presidential election
• YouGov: Europe wants Joe Biden
• Pew Research Center: Merkel and Macron trusted globally
• Pew Research Center: Trump’s International Ratings Remain Low, Especially Among Key Allies
• YouGov 2016: How other countries would vote in the American election . ↩
• The most extreme case I could find was the Senate campaign of Al Gross in Alaska who has raised $57 for each person who voted in Alaska in 2016. ↩
• In 2017 the Conservative party spent £18.6m contesting about 10% of the actual seats. Across the whole election 32 million votes were cast. This comes to about $8 USD per voter. ↩

Why Voting Is Important

“Voting is your civic duty.” This is a pretty common sentiment, especially each November as Election Day approaches. But what does it really mean? And what does it mean for Americans in particular?

Social Studies, Civics, U.S. History

Americans Voting

Typically in the United States, national elections draw large numbers of voters compared to local elections.

Hill Street Studios

Today, most American citizens who are 18 or over have the right to vote in federal and state elections . This has not always been the case.

The United States Constitution originally did not say who was allowed to vote, but it did explain how citizens would elect the new federal government. The members of the House of Representatives are to be elected directly through a popular vote . This means that each voter casts a ballot, and the candidate with the most votes wins. Members of the Senate were originally chosen by state legislatures, but that changed in 1913 to also allow people in each state to vote directly for them, too.

However, the Constitution says that the president should be chosen indirectly by a group called the Electoral College .

Each state has a number of delegates to the Electoral College. This number is based on the state's population. During the election, when one person wins the popular vote in a state, then they win all of the electoral votes for that state. Once all the votes are in, whichever candidate has the majority of electoral votes wins the election and becomes president. If one person does not have the majority, then the House of Representatives votes on who will become president.

Not All Adults Could Vote In Early America

When the Constitution was written, the question of who could vote was mostly left to the states. Through the early 1800s, only white male landowners were allowed to vote. Women, Blacks, and other disadvantaged groups of the time could not vote. These groups were denied the right to vote for many years to come.

Black men were not given the right to vote until 1870. That's when the 15th Amendment was approved. Even still, after 1870, Black men still faced major problems when they went to vote. They included poll taxes and literacy tests.

This continued until the 1960s. In 1964 the 24th Amendment was approved. It made  poll taxes illegal. The next year, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 put an end to Jim Crow segregation laws.

No American women were allowed to vote until 1920. That was the year the women's voting movement was able to get the 19th Amendment approved by the states. It said that all women were allowed to vote. However, Black women would continue to face many obstacles to vote even after the 19th Amendment.

Most all Americans over the age of 21 could vote by the mid 1960s. The American voting age was lowered to 18 in 1971. At that time many Americans felt if you were old enough to serve your country in the military then you should be allowed to vote. Today, the voting age remains at 18. More Americans have voting rights now then in our Founding Fathers' day.

Does One Vote Really Make A Difference?

Do you sometimes think one person's vote cannot make much of a difference? Two of the closest elections in U.S. history might make you think again.

Al Gore narrowly lost the Electoral College vote to George W. Bush in 2000. Bush ended up winning Florida by only 537 votes. The election may have gone differently if 600 more Gore supporters showed up to vote. There may have been a different president from 2001-2009.

In 2016, Donald Trump won the Electoral College vote over Hillary Clinton by 304-227. The election did not come down to a handful of votes in one state as it did in 2000. However, Clinton actually won the national popular vote by nearly three million ballots. Trump, however, received enough electoral votes to win.

Trump won the popular vote in key areas of "swing" states like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. Like most states, these have a "winner take all" system. That means the popular vote winner gets all the state's electoral votes. The loser gets none.

Votes In Local Elections Matter, Too

One voter may not directly elect the president. But when that vote is combined with others it can definitely make a difference. This is especially true in a particular voting district and in a close election.

Large numbers of voters usually turn out to elect a president. Far fewer people turn out for local elections. This means that fewer people have a say in who is elected to important offices like mayor or city council.

Being Involved In Politics

You can still get involved in elections even if you are not yet 18. The same is true if you are not a U.S. citizen. You may not be able to vote, but here are some actions you can take:

Be informed. Read up on issues (both local and national) that are important to you and figure out where you stand.

Get out and talk to people. Even if you cannot vote, you can still voice opinions on social media, in your school newspaper, or in other public places. You never know who might be listening.

Volunteer to work on a campaign . Support your favorite candidate. You can help with phone calls, door-to-door outreach, writing postcards, or volunteering at campaign headquarters. Your work can help get a candidate elected.

Taking part in free elections is one of the most important rights in American life. Many people in other countries do not have the same freedom. Neither did many Americans in our country's past. It is important to exercise your rights no matter what you believe or whom you support.

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Related Resources

15 Reasons Why You Should Vote in the US Election

Every four years, the United States holds an election for president. Congressional elections occur every two years, while various state and local elections happen every year. While some rules vary, you’re typically eligible to vote if you’re a U.S. citizen, meet state residency requirements, register to vote, and are 18 years old on or before Election Day. Why is it important to vote? In this article, we’ll explore 15 reasons why you should vote in US elections, including elections in 2024.

  #1. Voting impacts the future

In the US, one person gets one vote. It may feel like your vote doesn’t matter. What can one person do to change the future? Voting for things you believe in does matter. The main reason is that when people organize around an issue and all make their voices heard, society changes. The other reason is that while your vote can feel meaningless in federal elections, it has a huge impact on smaller, local races. NPR listed a series of races determined by just a few votes , like a 2017 Virginia House of Delegates race. The election was a tie. Officials chose the winner by pulling a name out of a bowl. The Republican was declared the winner, giving the party control of the state House by just one seat. If one more person had shown up to vote in that race, the winner wouldn’t have come down to random chance.

#2. Voting isn’t a right Americans have always had

Millions of Americans vote in elections, but in the past , the number of those eligible was much smaller. In 1789, the U.S. Constitution didn’t even detail specific voting rights, instead leaving it up to the states. Most states only let white, male landowners vote. In 1868, the 14th Amendment established birthright and naturalized citizenship. While the amendment also gave freed enslaved people and Black people citizenship, they still weren’t given voting rights until two years later. Women weren’t given the right to vote until 1920, and in 1965, the Voting Rights Act passed, finally providing more voting right protections. Many people take voting for granted, but it’s the result of centuries of activism and progress.

#3. Voting rights are under threat, and voting can help protect them

Even after years of positive change, voting rights are still under threat. Things like gerrymandering , which is the redrawing of district lines to favor one party over the other, and stricter eligibility requirements are undemocratic. According to a piece from Human Rights Watch, voting rights are also threatened by misinformation, election interference and the intimidation of election officials. In 2023, at least 14 states passed laws making voting harder. Everyone eligible should take advantage of their right to vote and make it clear they want their representatives to protect voting rights. The right to vote is something everyone, regardless of their other beliefs, should fight for.

#4. Voting is an important tool for civic engagement

According to Robert Longley on ThoughtCatalog, civic engagement is “participating in activities intended to improve the quality of life in one’s community.” That includes political activities like voting, as well as non-political activities like volunteering at nonprofits, contributing to food banks, cleaning up public spaces and much more. When everyone participates in civic engagement, more problems are solved, people are more educated on issues in their communities and politicians are held to higher standards. While voting is just one aspect of civic engagement, it’s one of the most important.

#5. Voting is essential to a representative government

In a pure democracy, every American would be responsible for writing legislation, but the US uses a representative form of government. The nation is technically a “ republic ,” which is a form of government where voters choose representatives. These representatives then write and establish laws. A representative government is only successful if as many people as possible vote. This helps create a government truly based on what the people want and need.

#6. Voting holds politicians accountable

Politicians often get a bad rap, and often for good reason. Some get into government just for the money, power, business connections and other perks, while even politicians who started with good intentions can turn their backs on their constituents. When a politician fails to represent the best interests of voters, gets involved in a scandal, or is otherwise doing an unsatisfactory job, voting is the best way to hold them accountable. Before an election, you can make it clear you won’t vote for a politician unless they take certain actions on the issues you care about. If they fail to meet your standards, you can vote them out.

#7. Voting in local elections has direct impacts

Federal elections get the most coverage in the United States, but it’s the smaller state and county-level ones that have the most direct impacts on individual voters. Things like school funding and tax increases are determined locally, so if you want to make your voice heard, you should vote in local elections. As an example, a county in Oregon recently approved a school levy that will pay for classroom teachers and keep class sizes “steady” for the next five years. Homeowners were asked to pay $1.63 out of every $1,000 of assessed property value. Measures like this have a clear impact, so every affected voter should participate in the final decision.

#8. Voting impacts international relations

The outcomes of local elections arguably impact individuals more than federal elections, but that doesn’t mean big elections aren’t important, too. Congress and the president make decisions that affect the country as well as the world. According to the BBC, the US is the “world’s most foremost economic and military power.” It provides ⅕ of the United Nation’s entire budget, while it spent over $816 billion on defense in 2023. On a cultural level, the United States is also one of the most influential nations. By voting and staying engaged politically, you can have a say in the United States’ impact on international relations.

#9. Voting helps you stay informed on issues

Politics can be stressful and confusing. Many people don’t pay close attention to all the issues, so when elections come around, they don’t vote because they don’t feel informed. It’s never too late! When elections are approaching, take a little time to research the candidates and ballot measures in your area. Resources like Ballotpedia , which provides unbiased information on policy, politics and elections, are useful because they’re accessible and free. You don’t have to understand everything about an issue to have an opinion, so use election time to get just enough information to feel comfortable voting.

#10. The United States, which is facing more threats, needs informed voters

As we described earlier, voting rights have been under threat lately, but that’s not the only reason the United States is struggling. America is facing worsening climate change effects, rising homelessness rates , and more bankruptcies , among other issues. Experts have also expressed alarm with the Republican Party’s shift toward authoritarianism.  Former president Donald Trump, who is currently the leading Republican candidate and defendant in four criminal cases, has talked about wanting to be a dictator “for one day ” and indicting political opponents, who he’s called “vermin,” if re-elected. Everyone eligible should vote if they care about where the United States is headed.

#11. Many experts – and voters – believe the future of democracy is at stake

Democracy is never a guarantee, but it’s become a central issue for the United States in recent years. According to the Brookings Institution, “democratic erosion” has two main sources: election manipulation and executive overreach. Donald Trump’s attempt to undermine the results of the 2020 election is the clearest example, but state legislatures have been making it harder to vote for years. When polled, Americans are concerned about the future of democracy. According to one survey, 62% of adults believed democracy will be threatened based on who wins the 2024 presidential elections. With the stakes so high, voting is more important than ever.

#12. Climate issues are on the ballot

Climate change is the world’s most serious problem, and as reports from groups like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change continue to confirm, human activity is driving climate change. Countries like the United States bear the most responsibility. Every election has consequences for climate change policy, so it’s one of the most compelling reasons to vote. Research what candidates on a county, state and federal level believe about climate change and what they plan to do.

#13. Many elections involve reproductive rights

In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe. v. Wade , taking away the federal right to abortion and flipping it back to the states. Several ballot measures either protecting or restricting abortion rights have come up. According to Ballotpedia, Maryland and New York will vote on ballot measures involving reproductive rights in November 2024, while others will no doubt emerge. A politician’s stance on reproductive rights and plans to address them matter more than ever, so it’s important to consider these rights when voting.

#14. Immigration is another important issue

The United States has more immigrants than any other country. The system is overwhelmed. According to NPR, as many as 10,000 people a day reach the US-Mexico border. Immigrants from other places, often forced by conflict and climate change to move, are also arriving in larger and larger numbers. Both of America’s main political parties – the Republicans and Democrats – have struggled to respond, leading to issues like inhumane conditions, family separations, hateful rhetoric and much more. Who Americans elect and what legislation they approve of matter, so immigration is another good reason to vote.

#15. LGBTQ+ rights need protection  

According to NBC, 75 anti-LGBTQ+ bills became law in 2023. They include restrictions on transition care for minors, bans on transgender athletes from school sports, limits on teaching about LGBTQ+ issues and more. While those 75 laws represent just 15% of the 500 proposed anti-LGBTQ+ laws proposed in 2023, they still have a significant impact. In a piece for Them , Nico Lang lays out how Republican politicians will continue to threaten LGBTQ+ rights while expanding their fight against transition care to adults. Ballotpedia already lists six ballot measures involving LGBTQ+ rights that will need voter approval in 2024. If you care about LGBTQ+ rights, voting is one of the best ways to protect them.

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About the author, emmaline soken-huberty.

Emmaline Soken-Huberty is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon. She started to become interested in human rights while attending college, eventually getting a concentration in human rights and humanitarianism. LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights, and climate change are of special concern to her. In her spare time, she can be found reading or enjoying Oregon’s natural beauty with her husband and dog.

Why Is Voting Important? (24 Reasons)

Have you ever asked yourself if your vote really matters? It does! Voting is how you make a difference in your town, your country, and the world. It lets you say what’s important to you and helps decide who will take care of the things you care about, like schools and clean air.

When you vote, you’re putting your ideas and hopes into action. Your vote can bring change, look after freedoms, and make sure the leaders listen to what you want. It’s also a way to thank those who fought hard so we all could vote.

Stick with me as we explore why every vote, including yours, is so important. This list of questions will show you how your single choice at the polls can do big things for everyone’s future.

Let’s find out why, every time there’s an election, voting is key to keeping our community strong and free!

Table of Contents

Voting Lets You Speak Up About What Matters to You

Imagine standing in a crowd, shouting alongside thousands, and yet, amid the roar, your singular voice is heard. Voting is like this—it’s the megaphone for the individual. When you vote, you contribute to a powerful concert of voices that can sway massive decisions, like selecting leaders and shaping policies.

It’s a setting where every voice counts equally, from the busy mom to the first-time voter.

• Personal Impact : By casting your ballot, you are telling your story and priorities to those in power.
• Collective Power : Each vote melds into a collective mandate, sending a clear message of the citizens’ will.

Recent elections have seen amazing upsets and victories credited to the turnout of groups that were historically underrepresented at the polls. When these individuals made their voices heard, the entire political landscape shifted—proof that voting isn’t just a right; it’s a tool of change.

Voting Selects Decision-Makers

Voting is not a mere action; it’s an investment in the future. It determines who will make critical decisions about health care, education, and economic policies. These decision-makers will have the authority to guide the community, state, and country through complex challenges.

Consider a scenario where a region suffers from heavy pollution. Voting for leaders committed to environmental regulation can lead to cleaner air and better health.

• Quality of Life : The officials voted into office dramatically shape the legislation affecting everyday experiences and opportunities.
• Direction of Society : Elected leaders set the course, and voters are the compass.

Remember, not voting also makes a statement. It can inadvertently support the status quo or allow others to decide on matters that directly affect your life. Voting, therefore, is a critical step in selecting advocates who will fight for the issues close to your heart.

Voting Sustains Democracy

Democracy thrives when its citizens participate fully, and the core of this engagement is voting. It’s a self-renewing cycle: Democracy gives the right to vote; voting, in turn, nourishes democracy.

• Participation : Widespread voting involvement symbolizes a healthy democracy where citizens take stewardship.
• Vigilance : Voting also serves as oversight, a check on governmental power by the governed.

Consider a local election with low voter turnout. It’s not just a missed opportunity; it’s handing over influence to a smaller group and potentially weakening the democratic system’s health. Hence, voting isn’t just a fundamental right; it’s a vital act that keeps the wheels of democracy in motion. Remember, when the people vote, democracy speaks.

Voting Drives Policy Changes

Voting is a powerful lever for bringing about policy change. When people vote, they’re weighing in on the kind of policies they want to see enacted. Policies regarding anything from educational funding to environmental regulation can hinge on the outcomes of an election.

Elected officials, responsive to their constituents, often prioritize the immediate implementation of their platforms, which can lead to catalytic shifts in law and governance.

Over time, these shifts lay down the long-term legislative landscape reflecting the collective will and values of the electorate, thereby affecting the direction and quality of life for generations to come.

Voting Sparks Societal Shifts

When individuals participate in the voting process, they do more than fill out a ballot; they ignite the engine that drives societal evolution. Consider the societal transformations propelled by voter initiatives on civil rights, marriage equality, and labor laws.

These were not mere changes; they were revolutions within the social order that began at the ballot box.

• Cultural Change : Voting sets off ripple effects that redefine social norms and behaviors.
• Awareness and Mobilization : Elections can also energize movements, galvanizing communities to rally around specific causes.

Time and again, voting has been at the heart of monumental societal shifts. The legalization of same-sex marriage in various countries wasn’t just a legal win; it was a societal affirmation of love’s equality, catalyzed by the power of the vote.

Voting, therefore, can be considered a catalyst that propels society toward an ever-evolving destiny.

Voting Promotes Community Engagement

Voting does more than select representatives; it’s a starting point for heightened community involvement. By participating in elections, individuals often find themselves more aware and active in local issues.

This increased engagement can lead to a stronger commitment to:

• Volunteerism
• Community service

As people feel more connected to the results of the voting process, they’re inspired to maintain that connection through active participation in community development. The simple act of voting, therefore, serves to nurture a culture of active, engaged citizenship.

Voting Exercises Democratic Rights

Voting stands as a tribute to democratic freedom and a practice of one’s rights.

Every time individuals head to the polls, they join a tradition of democracy that has been fought for and preserved through generations. It’s a personal enactment of the principle that everyone has an equal stake in their government.

Even in times of perceived political stability, voting acts as a reminder that democracy should never be taken for granted. It’s an affirmation, an assertion, and, most importantly, a privilege that ensures the democracy’s heartbeat continues to pulse with the voices of its people.

The collective decision to exercise this right maintains the infrastructure of a democratic society. It’s not merely the freedom to vote, but the exercise of that freedom that keeps the democratic structure robust and responsive to the needs of its citizens.

Voting Molds National Future

The trajectory of a nation is sculpted by the hands of its voters. Policy direction, socioeconomic development, and international relations are all swayed by the collective voice as expressed through the vote.

Long-term national plans, such as climate action strategies or educational reforms, are directly influenced by the outcomes of elections, underscoring the proactive role voters play in steering the nation’s future.

The ripple effect of a single election can lead to innovations, drive economic growth, and inspire societal advancements that redefine a country’s place in the world. Implicit in every vote is a vision of the future—a blueprint of what citizens aspire their country to become.

As policies evolve in response to the changing tide of public opinion, so too does the national legacy that will be handed down to future generations.

Voting Influences Everyday Life

On the surface, voting might seem like a task disconnected from daily routines, but its impact resonates through various facets of everyday life.

The zoning laws that determine where you can live, the quality of the roads you drive on, even the safety of the food you eat—these elements are shaped by elected decision-makers and the policies they implement. Voting, therefore, has a hand in sculpting the lived experiences of all citizens.

The decisions made in local, state, and national elections reach into the heart of communities. They influence the schools our children attend and the healthcare systems we rely on.

By casting their votes, citizens wield the power to shape outcomes, ensuring that voting is a key component of community health and individual welfare.

Voting Legitimizes Leadership

Voting is much like giving permission. When we vote, we are choosing who can make decisions on our behalf. This choice tells everyone that the leaders we select are there because we, the people, decided so. It’s how we say, “Yes, you can lead us,” and it gives our leaders the authority to act.

Without our votes, leaders wouldn’t really represent us. It’s the votes of the people that make their position valid and respected.

Leaders know that their power comes from the people’s support, which is shown through voting. When a lot of us turn out to vote, it’s a clear sign that we believe in how our system works. Our leaders are then seen as true representatives of our wants and needs because they were chosen by the majority.

This is why every single person’s vote is important—it adds to the power and legitimacy of those in charge.

When few people vote, it can make leaders seem less credible. This can be a problem because strong leadership is needed to guide communities, make laws, and protect our rights. By voting, we make sure that our leaders truly speak for us and can do their jobs well.

Remember, every time you vote, you’re reinforcing the strength of our leadership and the system that lets us choose them.

Voting Demands Accountability

Voting is like a promise made by those who want to lead. They say what they will do for us, and we vote based on those promises. It’s a deal—we support them, and they work for our good.

But voting doesn’t just end at the polls; it’s the start of us watching over those we’ve chosen to make sure they keep their word. Voting gives us the power to reward leaders who do well and change those who don’t.

Leaders know that they will face the voters again, and they’re reminded that their time in office depends on pleasing us, the public. Our vote is our voice telling them to take good care of our interests. If they don’t listen and fail to deliver, they risk losing their position in the next election.

We’re not just picking a winner on election day; we’re setting expectations . Each vote is a piece of a constant feedback loop. If leaders keep their promises, they earn votes in the future. If not, they may have to step down.

Voting Balances Government Power

Voting is our way of keeping things fair in the government. Think of it as a balance scale—when it’s even, everything works as it should. But if one side gets too heavy, the balance is off.

Voting ensures that no single part of the government gets too much power. We vote for different offices and at different times so that we have a say in every area, from the president down to the city council.

This balance keeps our system stable by allowing different voices to be heard. When we vote, we’re choosing people we believe will protect our rights and make sure the government doesn’t overstep.

Every election is a chance to check on those in power:

• If they’re doing a good job, they can stay.
• If they’re trying to tip that balance scale too far, we can vote to bring in someone else.

What’s more, voting stops one group from controlling everything. When power is shared, it’s harder for anyone to misuse it. We decide who represents us at different levels, and this variety helps to keep the government working in the interest of all people. Because when power is balanced, it’s harder for it to be used wrongly.

Voting Impacts Local Issues

Voting is a powerful way for you to help shape what goes on in your own backyard. Whether it’s choosing who makes the laws for your town, or deciding if a new park should be built, your vote counts in these local decisions. These matters might seem small, but they have a big effect on your day-to-day life.

Think about the schools in your neighborhood, the safety of your streets, or how well your trash is picked up. Voting lets you have a say in all these things.

Local leaders pay close attention to what you—as a voter—care about. They want to make sure they’re doing things that will make you want to vote for them again.

If your community needs something, like better roads or more bus routes, voting for leaders who promise to tackle these issues is how you make it happen. It’s your way to tell them, “This is what we need, please make it happen.”

Sometimes, local votes can be about big, important decisions, too. For example, if your town is deciding whether or not to allow a big company to build a factory nearby, voting gives you the power to influence that choice. It could mean more jobs, but it could also mean more pollution. So, your vote helps decide what’s best for your community .

Voting Can Rewrite History

Big changes that happen in a country start with the choices made by voters.

Think about the right for women to vote, or laws that protect the environment—these started as ideas that people voted on. Over time, as more people voted for these causes, they became part of history, turning old ways of thinking completely around.

Each election can be a turning point .

By voting, you’re part of the group that decides if things should stay the same or if it’s time for something new. This could mean voting for someone who has never been elected before, or supporting a law that changes the way things are done. Your vote can help break barriers and open new doors for how people live their lives in the future.

History is full of examples like these, where voting led to major shifts in society. When people voted to end segregation or to allow same-sex marriage, it didn’t just change laws; it changed hearts and minds. Voting is your chance to be part of history, making a mark on the world that will be remembered for years to come.

Voting Secures Representation

Voting is how you make sure there’s someone in the government who speaks for you and your needs. By voting, you’re picking leaders who understand and care about what’s important to you and your community.

They are your voice in places where big decisions are made, like the government or the parliament. Without your vote, these leaders wouldn’t know what you need or want them to do.

It’s all about making sure that everyone has a say. Communities that vote in large numbers send a strong message that they need to be listened to. This means the more people from your community that vote, the more attention your issues will get.

For instance, if your neighborhood needs a new clinic, voting for a representative who promises to fight for healthcare means you’re closer to getting that clinic built.

Voting isn’t just for big national elections; it’s crucial in smaller, local ones too. That’s because the people who get elected locally are often the ones who talk directly with the bigger leaders. They make the case for your interests.

Voting Embodies Freedom

Voting is a clear sign of freedom. It’s something not everyone in the world can do, and it allows you to choose who you want to guide your town, city, or country.

When you vote, you are using a right that many have fought for over the years and that some still do not have. It’s about having the power to decide for yourself, without someone else telling you what to do.

Here’s a simple table that breaks down what freedom means when it comes to voting:

Voting is you standing up and saying, “I am free to choose.” It’s about making your own decisions, big or small, about who gets to make the laws or what kind of place you want to live in. It’s a part of freedom that touches every part of our lives.

Voting Shows Community Care

When you vote, you’re looking out for the people around you. It’s a way to show you care about your town, city, and country. It’s more than just thinking about what you need; it’s thinking about what will help everyone, like better schools or hospitals. Voting is how you can be a part of making sure the community gets these things.

By voting, you help decide what happens in your community. It shows you’re paying attention and that you want what’s best for everyone around you.

Say your local park needs fixing up. If you vote for someone who wants to make the park better, you’re showing that you care about a place where families spend time together.

You’re also saying to your neighbor, “I want to help make things better for us all.” When the community sees many people voting, it can inspire others to do the same—to stand up for what they believe. This way, voting brings people together to work for the good of everyone.

Voting Invests in Tomorrow

Every vote is like planting a seed for the future. By voting, you are thinking not only about today but about many days to come. It’s how you help build the world that you want your children and their children to live in. Investing your time to vote is investing in the world of tomorrow.

Imagine voting for the environment. You’re not just voting for cleaner parks today; you’re voting for a healthier planet in the future. It’s about long-term thinking—picking leaders and laws that will not only take care of us now but also protect and provide for future generations.

This investment means every vote counts. When you vote, you’re laying down the path that leads forward for everyone. It’s an important job because if we all think about the world we’re leaving behind, we can make better choices that will keep our community and planet safe and thriving for the times ahead.

Voting Honors Fights for Equality

Voting is a tribute to the long battles fought for equal rights for all. It’s our way of recognizing and respecting the efforts of those who stood up against unfairness to secure the right to vote regardless of race, gender, or economic status. When you participate in an election, you’re carrying on the legacy of these hard-won rights.

Here’s a table that shows different equality milestones related to voting:

By voting, you celebrate these victories and continue the push towards a fairer society. It means everyone’s voice has value, showing that we’ve moved forward and continue to do so. Voting doesn’t just shape the future—it’s also a way to honor the past.

Voting Affects Public Services

Public services—the things that the government provides, like schools, hospitals, and public transportation—are all influenced by voting. The people we choose to represent us make big decisions about these services, and your vote is your say on who those people should be. It’s your tool to impact the kind of services you and your community receive.

Think about it this way: If you want better local schools, you vote for candidates who prioritize education. Or, if you think your city should have more buses and trains, you support leaders who will push for better public transit. These services are essential to our daily lives, and voting is how we ensure they meet our needs.

Good public services make life better for everyone. They’re what keep us healthy, safe, and connected. By voting, you’re directly affecting how these services are provided and making sure they’re what the community needs.

Voting Signals Leaders

When you vote, you’re sending a message to leaders about what matters to you. It’s not just about picking a winner; it’s about telling those in charge what you expect from them. If many people vote for a leader because they promise to take care of the environment, that leader knows that keeping our surroundings clean is important to their voters.

The number of votes cast can also be a powerful signal. A big turnout can show that people are paying attention and care about what’s happening in their government.

Conversely, if only a few people vote, it might look like folks aren’t that concerned, even if they are. Leaders watch these signals closely to see how they’re doing and what the public wants.

Voting is your way of communicating with politicians. It’s like picking up a phone and telling them your thoughts. It’s a direct line from you to your leaders, and every vote is a part of the conversation about how we all want to live and the direction we want our communities and countries to go.

Voting Advocates Personal Beliefs

Voting is how you stand up for what you believe in. It’s your personal stamp on the issues that you feel strongly about, such as education, healthcare, or the environment. Through voting, you can support the ideas and plans that match your own views and help move your community and country in the direction you think is best.

Here’s a simple table showing how voting can match various personal beliefs:

By casting your vote, you’re not only speaking up for yourself but also supporting the collective voice of others who share your values. When people with similar beliefs vote together, it can have a huge impact. It ensures that what you care about is on the minds of those who get elected.

Voting Directs Fiscal Spending

The government decides how to use its money—your money—based on what leaders think is important.

Voting is your chance to influence those decisions. You can help guide where money should go: more for schools, better roads, or improved healthcare. All of these services need funding, and when you vote, you’re giving your opinion on how the budget should be used.

When you vote, you have a say in directing government spending:

• Education : Voting for candidates who prioritize education means directing money towards bettering schools and resources for students.
• Infrastructure : Casting a ballot for improved public infrastructure can lead to well-maintained roads and transportation systems.
• Healthcare : Supporting measures for healthcare funding ensures hospitals and clinics receive the investment needed to serve you and your community.

Voting is your way of directing the government’s financial choices. It’s like helping to steer a big ship. Your one vote, along with everyone else’s, decides the course for where money needs to be invested for the common good.

Voting Improves Quality of Life

What’s important for a good life? Good jobs, safe streets, clean air, and healthy families. Voting affects all these things. By choosing leaders and laws that match your vision for a good community, you have a hand in making life better for everyone. It’s a powerful action that shapes the very world you live in every day.

Voting has a ripple effect on quality of life:

• It supports policies that can provide job opportunities.
• It shapes the environment we live in by backing efforts to keep it clean and protect natural spaces.

Every time you vote, you’re helping to create the conditions that make your community a great place to live. You’re ensuring that you, your family, and your neighbors have access to the things that make life enjoyable and fulfilling. It’s a simple act with a big impact—a vote for today is a vote for a brighter tomorrow.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an election.

An election is a process in which a group chooses someone to represent them. Elections can be held for various reasons, such as selecting a new leader, voting on a law, or deciding on an issue. In most democracies, elections are held regularly, and the results determine the composition of the government.

To win an election, a candidate must receive more votes than any other candidate. In some cases, a candidate may win by a majority of the votes cast. In other cases, the winner may be determined by a plurality of the votes cast. This means that the candidate with the most votes wins, even if they don’t receive a majority.

The mechanics of an election vary by country or region. Typically, voters go to polling stations to cast their ballots. After the polls close, the votes are counted, and the results are announced. If there is a runoff, the process begins again until one candidate receives a majority of the votes.

What Is the Purpose of Elections?

Elections have been around in one form or another for centuries, and their purpose has always been the same: to allow the people to choose their leaders. By voting, people can express their desires and preferences, and by campaigning, candidates can make their case to voters.

Elections are also a way for people to hold their leaders accountable. If dissatisfied with a leader’s performance, people can vote them out of office. Elections give people the opportunity to have a say in how their country is run.

Is Voting a Right or a Responsibility?

On the one hand, the right to vote is enshrined in many constitutions around the world. It gives citizens the opportunity to have a say in how their government and country are run. On the other hand, voting can also be seen as a responsibility, especially in countries where voting is compulsory.

People who believe that voting is a right point to the fact that many people have fought and died for the right to vote. The right to vote allows people to influence their government and have a say in how their country is governed. It also allows people to hold their government accountable for its actions.

Moreover, those who advocate for the right to vote also believe that all citizens should have the opportunity to have their voices heard. They believe that everyone should be able to vote without having to overcome any hurdles or meet any requirements. This argument is based on the idea of democracy, which states that the voices of the majority should be heard.

Meanwhile, citizens who view voting as a responsibility often point out that not voting can lead to poor results. When too few people go to the polls, it can lead to extremists coming to power or policies that most people disagree with. In some cases, not voting can also lead to election results being decided by those who do vote rather than the majority of the population.

In addition, those who argue that voting is a responsibility also say that it is something that all citizens should take seriously. They believe voters should be well-informed about the candidates and issues and should cast their ballots thoughtfully. This argument is based on civic duty, which states that citizens have a duty to participate in their government.

Ultimately, it is up to each individual voter to decide what they believe. Some people feel more strongly about one side of the argument than the other, while others may agree equally with both sides. What is important is that you are informed about the issue and cast your ballot thoughtfully.

What Is the Human Right to Vote?

The human right to vote is essential to democracy and popular sovereignty. It is the right of all citizens to cast their votes in elections and to have their voices heard. The right to vote gives people the opportunity to express their opinions and elect their leaders. It is also a way for citizens to hold their government accountable.

The right to vote is a fundamental right that should be protected for all people. It is important that all citizens have the opportunity to vote, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, or socioeconomic status. Voter suppression tactics, such as voter suppression laws ID and purging voter rolls, are harmful and should be rejected.

Election authorities must ensure that voting is accessible and fair to all. Polling places should be in convenient locations, and voting procedures should be easy to understand. Election officials should also ensure that all votes are counted accurately.

The human right to vote is an essential component of democracy and self-government. All citizens have the right to have a say in decisions that affect their lives. Voting is the best way for people to make their voices heard and hold their government accountable.

Why Should Voters Be Educated?

Perhaps the most important reason voters should be educated is that voters cannot make informed decisions without education. If voters need to understand the issues or the candidates, they are more likely to vote according to their emotions or what they hear from others than according to their own convictions.

Another reason education is essential is that it helps ensure fair elections. When voters know about the candidates and the issues, they can make an informed decision and vote accordingly. Uninformed voters are more likely to vote for candidates who are popular or who have the most money than those who best represent their own beliefs.

Education also helps build democracy. When citizens are educated about their rights and responsibilities, they are more likely to participate in the democratic process. They are also more likely to hold their elected officials accountable and demand change when they disagree with them.

Overall, it is clear that education is essential to democracy. Voters educated about the issues and the candidates are more likely to make an informed decision when they vote. They are also more likely to participate in the democratic process and hold their elected representatives accountable.

Final Thoughts

So, we’ve seen that voting is super important. It’s how you get to speak up about what happens in your town and your country. Your vote matters today and for the future. It’s kind of like telling a story about the place you want to live in and the changes you want to see.

Think of voting as your personal power move. It’s like telling the world, “Hey, this is what I believe in!” And when it’s time to vote, you’re not just doing it for you. You’re doing it for your family, your friends, and even people you don’t know yet.

Let’s make it simple: Get out there and vote, because it really does count. Talk about voting, get your mates to join in, and when the election comes, be a part of it. Your vote is a big deal—it’s your voice, and it’s waiting to be heard!

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Jessa Claire

Voting Awareness Essay

The voting awareness essay is an article that discusses voting and its importance. It provides information about voting and how to be a responsible voter. A lot of people want to vote, but many are not aware of its need and how to cast it. This is where voting awareness comes into play. The idea of voting awareness is to help people understand the importance of voting. Voting is an important way for voters to control their government. It is a method for citizens to express what they want from their leaders by raising awareness about voting. This will lead to better governance and what everyone wants – a democracy that is free, fair and representative.

Voting helps citizens become more involved in their government and keep it accountable. To vote, you must meet specific requirements. In addition to voting, there are a few laws that ensure fair elections around the world. BYJU’S short essay on voting awareness helps us understand the vote’s significance.

Importance of Voting

Voting is an integral part of democracy, and it is necessary for people to have a voice. Everyone has the right to vote, which means that all Indians can vote for the Prime Minister of their choice. By voting, you can create change and make a difference in your community. It is also important to vote because you can only repeal a law if most citizens agree with it.

Voting is one way to be more civically engaged with your government. It is vital to make a difference in the world by having your voice heard and representing the views of people who don’t have a voice. If you want to create change, voting is an excellent way. Voting in election helps citizens ensure that the country is granted better rights and protection.

Voting is an important civic duty that can significantly impact the future of our country. Voting helps keep politicians accountable for their actions and creates the framework for our democracy. Voting also ensures that public officials are paid with the tax amount from the people who can afford to pay them. The most consequential decision of all is how to spend tax – voting ensures that there is accountability for what goes into our government’s budget. The last thing we want is for politicians to be able to spend public money without being held accountable by the public’s vote.

To conclude, this is BYJU’S voting awareness essay for kids to help them understand the significance of voting in a democracy. Voting gives citizens a voice and an opportunity to participate in the democratic process. Voting also allows everyone to contribute to the shared democracy and make the government more representative of the people. For more kids learning activities like worksheets , poems etc., visit BYJU’S website.

Frequently Asked Questions on Voting Awareness Essay

At what age can a person vote in india.

In India, a person can start voting once they turn 18.

Why should we vote?

We should vote to let our voices be heard and ensure that what we want is put into effect. Voting is one of the fundamental rights our country offers us.

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