The Importance of Voting
“Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”
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Let’s face it, the statistics of voter turnout has been very low across the state of California. To illustrate, the entire state of California faced a record-low turnout of 42.2% registered voters in the 2014 November statewide election. And Los Angeles County ranked last with a little over 31% turnout among registered voters, despite being the largest county in the state. Worse yet, the recent March 2015 municipal elections in the city of Los Angeles followed up with an abysmal 10.3% turnout of voters.
The low voter turnout may be a result of many factors such as lack of knowledge about election dates, low absentee voting, or perhaps even apathy. Regardless, the low turnout indicates that even one vote really does make a tremendous and amplified impact.
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The graph to the left features the results from the March 2015 Los Angeles City Council primary election for District 4. Between the top 3 candidates competing for a place in the general election, the difference was a matter of less than 300 votes. This is an example of how election results can come very close with only a handful of votes.
In addition, local officials are aware of areas with low voter turnout and act accordingly. The priorities and positions held by these officials are influenced by voters’ responses, as well as the lack of them.
Your vote is equivalent to your voice. Thus, let your voice be heard so that you can decide the transparency of your representatives, the protection of your community’s interests, and the laws that govern your community. |