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| Diana Lalata Class of 2017 |
I excitedly raced an
elderly man to the empty check-in table (although with no competition since he
did not seem to be as excited as I was to be voting in the midterm election). I
stood in front of the tired and uninterested elderly woman working the check-in
table. “Driver’s license?” she asked me dully. I frantically searched for my
driver’s license and presented it to her proudly, telling her that today,
November 4th, 2014, marked my first time voting. She smiled
politely, asked me to sign by my printed name, and handed me a ballot.
“Partisan candidates are on the front, judge selections are on the back of the
ballot—they are nonpartisan,” she directed me.
I took my ballot over
to the ballot box, reaching for the short, dull-tipped pencil attached to the
desk by a frayed string of yarn. I filled in my ballot and then took it over to
the ballot machine to turn it in. Another woman stood by the machine, simply nodding
at me to place the ballot into the machine myself. The machine accepted my
ballot, and just like that: I voted for my first time. I lingered by the
machine for about thirty seconds, patiently waiting for the woman to hand me a
sticker that stated, “I VOTED.” No sticker was given, to my disappointment, but
I still felt accomplished—I just voted!
On the drive back to
campus, I began thinking about my vote and my unmet expectations for Election
Day. I have seen more people line up for Black Friday sales on a cold, wintry
morning than they did for the polls on a fair, sunny day. I have witnessed more
passionate posts from students campaigning for their favorite candidate(s) via
social media than I actually witnessed physically campaigning or voting that
day. Although I was previously aware that only a bit more than half of eligible
voters were likely to actually vote on Election Day, I could not help but be
shocked at the lack of people actively choosing to pursue their right to voice
their opinion as an American citizen in a democratic government.
This disparity of
voter participation compared to other countries that receive votes from almost
all of their constituents (Australia in the lead with a 96% voter turnout
rate!) brought attention to a bigger question: Is it more effective to have
compulsory voting in order to have greater voter participation or is the
current voting system actually satisfactory in sustaining our democratic governmental
system? In the perfect world, the first option would seem ideal: every citizen
would be just as educated and engaged in properly researching each candidate
(instead of just choosing a name that they simply recognized from a lawn sign
passing by), and every opinion would be represented at elections. However, the
latter option (despite its the lower participation rate) could represent the
group of highly concerned citizens genuinely interested in the politics of his
or her region and the improvement of society as a whole. It is needless to say
that these are two ideals that cannot be perfectly met, but the two ends are
interesting to think about when thinking of ways to improve voter participation
in our democratic system.
Although my
expectations for a much more glamorous and engaged Election Day may not have
been met, I believe that having the option to choose to vote or not upholds
America’s value of democracy. Voluntary voting can measure competing interests,
instead of simply marginalizing minority opinion, which may happen with
mandatory voting. Because voting takes effort, those who are uninterested in
certain issues can choose not to vote, which allows elections to represent
those with more at stake. It is also important to point out that silence (not
voting) can serve as a way to speak just as loud as voicing one’s opinion
through voting. Candidates can measure the “indifference” and lack of public
opinion as a form of government dissatisfaction instead. I may have been
disenchanted with the sight of such few voters at the polls, but there are many
factors below the surface that affect the voter participation rate that I did
not take into account during my first experience voting. Maybe America can
offer greater incentives in the future to increase voter participation while
simultaneously promoting civic education, but until then, at least most voters
can look forward to receiving a sticker for voicing their opinion. For me, I
will continue to promote the importance of being an engaged citizen and
hopefully, I will receive a sticker reading “I VOTED” in the 2016 presidential
election.
Diana Lalata is as sophomore McConnell Scholar studying English, Spanish and political science. She is from Louisville, Ky.