Don’t Throw Away Your Vote

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I yelled across the dining room table. “How the hell is that possible?”

Last February, days after the presidential inauguration, the feelings from the election still fresh, I was having a typical Sunday evening at the GSB — drinking wine, shooting the shit with friends, and planning for the week ahead. The conversation had turned to politics; I’ve never abided by the rule that one should not discuss politics in polite company. And I found myself yelling at one of my closest friends, not because we disagreed on an issue. I was yelling at him because he’d just said that the 2016 presidential election was the first time he’d ever voted.

Look, I’m glad he voted this time. This was a big one. But he’d been able to vote for nearly a decade — why the hell did it take so long to go to the polls? He hadn’t realized I’d written my undergraduate thesis on how to improve election turnout among young people.

I’m dismayed to report that voter turnout in the United States is lower than in many other developed democracies, and has crept downward over time. Less than half of the eligible voting population turns out in midterm years, when citizens have the privilege to hire and fire representatives in Congress. In 2016, during the most contentious presidential election I’ve lived through, voter turnout fell to a 20-year low. If you are less than pleased with the outcome of that election, think hard about that last statistic. And, our generation, the millennials and starry-eyed youth, falls behind every other age group in voter turnout, election after election.

This keeps me up at night. When I find out that GSBers, the purported best and brightest who are supposed to change the world, are repeat offenders, I toss and turn even more (and yell).

Why would any well-educated, engaged, intelligent person let other people make decisions for them? This leaves only political junkies like myself and the most radicalized, polarizing voters to make electoral decisions. That is a disservice to you and to your country. Plenty of people will make arguments like “My vote won’t make a difference” or “Money already decided the election,” but those viewpoints only diminish further the power of the ballot box. Politicians spend much time and money trying to reach you. They do this because the individual voter can indeed make a difference, especially in local and state elections.

As I prepare for graduation, I imagine that I’m not the only person contemplating how to actually change lives, organizations, and the world. I don’t have a great answer, but I’ve had conversations with many a classmate about what we all can “do” in this polarized, divisive political climate. Here’s my answer: Vote, and bring a friend with you. I beg of you. When you settle in your new home away from the GSB, re-register to vote with your new address. Voting is far and away the easiest and the most direct way to involve yourself in politics.

Ready for more? If you want to stay engaged after the GSB and voting is not enough for you, here are a few other easy ways to stay engaged:

• Donate. A lot of people might not like this answer, but supporting political candidates helps people you believe in get elected.
• Volunteer. Knock on doors. Make phone calls. Organize fundraisers. It’s actually fun and you’ll meet the most interesting people.
• Support local organizations. Wherever we’re all moving, there are more than a handful of local political and community organizations. Often they are looking for board members and volunteers. Check them out!

Either Harry Truman or Aaron Sorkin (via Jed Bartlet in an episode of The West Wing) said, “Decisions are made by those who show up.” We’ve spent two years at the GSB examining how we “show up” from every possible angle. At the end of the day, all I’m asking you to do is to show up. See you at the polls in 2018.