Voting Is Important Business

Sat., Dec. 9, 2000

Katie Peabody Special To Staff writer

On Nov. 7 America went to bed expecting to wake up knowing who the 43rd president of the United States would be. A month later we still aren’t sure and the decision may lie in the hands of the courts.

I sit here wondering how my life will be affected by the outcome. I wish I could have taken part in deciding but I am 16 years old; it will be four years before I can vote for president. Four years that, depending on who wins the presidency, could make a difference in my education or my job security and could affect my life in hundreds of other ways.

With so much at stake, I can not understand why so many people did not vote. This year’s voter turnout was one of the highest in years and yet half of all voting-age Americans did not bother to vote.

I am not the only young person who feels this way. We want to know why we do not have a say in the running of our country. But since we are not able to vote yet, we are depending on adults to do us a favor and try to make our country better. Please do not let us down.

I don’t see how people can be so careless, so irresponsible. Has the cost of freedom so easily been forgotten? Is our liberty worth little? Do we want the courts to decide who governs us?

Our nation fought for its independence because freedom was important. The men and women of that day wanted a say in their government. If England had given Americans the same rights and privileges her own citizens enjoyed, we might still be under British power.

Looking back at this election I realize how important taking an interest in the running of my country is. Please realize that you do make a difference, that your opinion is important. Make our future better and set an example of participation in the affairs of our country. Remember the cost of freedom.

Teach us to care. Show us that your country is important to you. For what is a future that has no leaders, no role models? If you are a good example and vote, you just may change the future.

Wake up to the privilege of voting. Do not think of it only as a dreaded duty. Think of it as a pleasure. Vote out of a love for your country and the freedoms it provides you. Enjoy the power of the people, lest it be taken from you. Work to change our government for the better. If you who can vote don’t, then those of us who want to but aren’t eligible should be allowed to vote in your place.

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