It’s that time again. One by one, politicians have officially been announcing if they’ll run for the upcoming ?presidential election.
In the past, I chose to try to ignore information about candidates and refused ?to vote.
However, after recent events, I realized the ?importance of voting on ?any level.
Any type of political campaign seemed exhausting to keep up with.
I found the arguments sparked between my friends and family about them to ?be frustrating.
I didn’t agree with the slanderous tactics politicians used to undermine each ?other in the media.
It seemed pointless to vote because it is impossible for one single person to completely encapsulate all of my political views ?and ideologies.
However, the recent passing of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act changed my view on voting for the better.
It was frustrating to me that such an act was passed when it did not seem to be an accurate representation of the beliefs of most ?Indiana residents.
Considering the fact that Indiana recently had the lowest rate of voter turnout since World War II, that makes complete sense.
Legislation was passed that did not represent the beliefs of the state population because we don’t vote as much as we should.
A large amount of disagreement was expressed about RFRA on social media.
However, when I asked many of my friends if they have voted at all since they were 18, the majority of them said no. I was guilty of the same thing.
It seems I couldn’t complain about the legislation passed by our governor because I never voted in that election, or any other one.
We did not take the initiative to voice our beliefs until it was too late.
It’s important the same mistake does not ?happen again.
We need to vote in order for future policies to be a representation of what we want as a city, state and country.
The campaigns might seem annoying as the ?coverage overwhelms the media.
We might not agree with the slanderous tactics used by some politicians to win.
It is impossible for one person to perfectly represent our political beliefs. However, we should learn from the passing of RFRA that voting for someone who at least generally represents what you believe ?is important.
There are so many issues important to our country right now, such as health care, gender equality and ?foreign policy.
Discussing our views on those issues on social media or among conversation with friends is not enough.
The only way to have a voice in those issues is ?to vote.
If we want legislation to accurately represent our beliefs on a city, state or federal level, we need to vote.
eshrack@indiana.edu
