In the midst of such a contentious, confounding and exhausting presidential race, it can be easy to lose track of the consequences of voting. It’s particularly simple, in the midst of the frenzy for president, to sideline the host of concurrent down-ballot contests like congressional and gubernatorial races, along with a slew of local legislative, judicial and executive elections.
Apart from giving us the warm satisfaction of completing our civic duty, voting allows us to elect members of Congress — that lovely body that seems to squabble more than it legislates. Frustration with the current Congress runs rampant and for good reason. Congress narrowly avoided a government shutdown in 2015 after the House failed to pass a long-term 2016 spending bill.
Its response to the Flint water crisis has been painfully drawn-out, especially for the people of Flint. The Senate passed a funding bill as late as Sept. 15, 2016 for a catastrophe which originated in 2014. Nevertheless, the journey for the bill has barely begun. It must pass through the House and the president to become law. For the past nine months, the Republican-held Senate has flat out refused to confirm a nominee for the Supreme Court, thoroughly neglecting one of its inherent duties.
While we, as voters, exert no direct control over the proceedings of the Senate and House, we do have a say in who becomes a part of their ranks. Granted, the options may not be exactly ideal. Yet, part of a representative democracy is choosing the candidate who will at least attempt to enact progress on the issues important to us.
Climate change, criminal justice reform, immigration reform, healthcare, poverty, national infrastructure and rights of veterans and minorities — these are all issues for which Congress can and should create viable legislation.
In both the 2010 and 2014 midterm elections, voter turnout was measly, the latter year bearing a particularly difficult blow to our democracy. Only 36.3 percent of eligible voters participated — a 72-year low according to various news sources including The New York Times and PBS. That was the year that gave us our current Congress.
Now we have a chance to wring out our federal legislative branch at least a little bit. All of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives and the 34 seats in the Senate are up for election. The Democrats have a veritable chance at regaining the majority in the Senate, with contested races occurring in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Missouri and Nevada, according to FiveThirtyEight.com.
As far as legislation goes, the president ultimately only picks the fruit. It’s the responsibility of Congress to plant the seed and to ensure the sapling grows. The representatives we elect will decide which seeds are worth planting and which saplings are worth battling dissent and disagreement for. For the majority of us, voting is the most direct and influential avenue for affecting a change in our political system by choosing the gardeners that will grow forests and flowers, not weeds.
The same holds true for local and state government. If anything, the politicians’ decisions at these levels affect our daily lives most. The students of New York City certainly felt the effects when Mayor Bill de Blasio refused to close schools with a snowstorm blowing through the streets. From roads to education to disaster prevention and relief, local and state governments matter, and so does voting.
At the other end of the spectrum, perhaps the most visible U.S. politician is the president, who acts as chief diplomat, signs or vetoes bills and is commander in chief with the power to deploy troops, enact drone strikes and command the use of nuclear weapons.
The next president will nominate up to four justices for the Supreme Court, justices whose rulings could uphold immigrant, LGBT+ and abortion rights or could chip away at them. As distant as the president’s influence on daily life may seem, the effects of his or her decisions have the potential to seep deeply into the soil of American society and either nourish or damage it.
Nonetheless, the president must also have a Congress to work with and a Congress willing to work. We have the right to elect both, in addition to the gamut of state and local governmental positions, from governors to attorney generals to city council members.
Voting shouldn’t be a chore and especially not one we put off. Don’t forget about it, and certainly don’t ignore it. Do research in advance. Look up the candidates. Think about whose views align with your own, and who could most aptly realize those views. When you sit down to mark your ballot, you’ll know what’s at stake and you know who you’re voting for.
