To Vote, Or Not to Vote

To Vote, Or Not to Vote

That is the underlying question

English 2010

Tuesday& Thursday @ 5:30

Katrina Burden

Voting has been known as a right not a privilege, but wouldn’t it be both? (Ginsburg) Well how do I know? This is the question that young voters face, as well as many others when it comes to seeing and believing what we want about voting and all that goes on around us. For many of the young voters in America we have no idea where to vote, who to vote for, or anything about where this privilege came from, and to add on top of that a lot of us don’t even know where to go register anymore (Voter Education and Outreach). But if you have you receive a card that you don’t know how to use or what to use it for. This just seems so complicated, why even waste the time trying. Because this is America where you can vote as any gender, race or person, we have this thing to vote this right, and we should take it seriously (Lowen). So from this you will know the basics of the entire voting process, things to look for and the places where you can even go to express this right (Woods).

With the Bill of Rights, we have many choices that were not given to us as the beginning of times. Such as the fifteenth amendment of the U.S. Constitution states: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous conditions of servitude.” (Bernstein) However this amendment took some hit by women until 1920 when the nineteenth amendment changed this for all women stating: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” (Bernstein) That means it took men fifty years to let women vote. (Lewis) It has now been ninety years and the turn out in the polls is women do not take advantage of the fact that they can vote. After a little less than a century more women turn out in polls than men showing since the year 1996 that at least 3% more of the voters were women. (Lowen)

There are a few important things you need to remember when you are voting. Keep in mind that there are those out there who will always have a different opinion than you and that is really ok. Most of the time, it is better for you to know that you have a dissimilar opinion to get the different perspectives and the diverse parts of what you are voting for. This also occurs on some of the rights you want or the things you want to see pass, such as the many bills and maybe even additions to the amendments, so that they help America and you as well. (Leavitt) To know all the sides it is best to do your own research as well as some of the interviewing with the people that have more experience as well as may an opposite opinion or yours. This paper is to give you some key terms to help your voting process.

The common thing you hear when elections role around are Democrats, and Republicans. So what do these really mean? Do we find that there is a large difference for us to know about? Most of the time you find that Democrats, the ones who stand for the people, are very choosy between specific states (Egan). We find that Republicans take over the majority of the state of Utah; this was proven when we had the election for George W. Bush, a republican, was a greater turnout of voters in the state. While Barrack Obama, a democrat, didn’t get the greatest of turnouts. This may be in turn that considering yourself a republican means that you like to have things almost the same as they were in the previous, so the campaign of the Democrats, was not appealing because you really didn’t want change (Murphy). This is however very different for the democrats. To consider yourself a democrat means you are looking for the change on what something new can bring you. This also means that you do not necessarily always vote democrat in the election. If you want the change you go after it with whatever party can bring you the most change.

This will cause the effect of the other side voting making you what we call part of the tea party. Where you vote for the party that is currently not in office, such as if there is a democrat in the office, no matter what you think of the republican you vote for him. This sometimes swings the vote so we end up with something we weren’t quite expecting but it also makes it a little more fair in a sense. If you feel like voting in such a manner, it would be considered in the definition that you are a democrat, because you do like the change. However the change may be to a different candidate that we can see from the beginning. This would be the vote in favor of the other side which the tea party votes for because that is how they seem to vote. (Skousen)

So does this make the voting process any easier yet? If not here are some more tips for what you should watch out for in the long run. Be careful what the news channels broadcast about the politicians, this information may not always be correct. You will find the best process for trying to come up with something you are looking for is to watch the candidate in action, either live or from the recording of someone maybe an amateur video caster to get all the facts. This will help you focus upon the task rather than listening to the commentary of those on select news stations. In the case of having a different opinion, you see that even as non biases as the newscaster attempt to be they still have their own opinion (Lowen).

Many women today do not have the appreciation they once had for the right to vote. We were not always the ones who had this right, and it was many men that didn’t have the chance to be able to see this either. As mentioned earlier women have only had the right to vote for almost a century (Lewis), but with that we have become accustomed to not only a popularity contest of the hunks that run for office but also the pretty women who is on his arm, and of course what she wears. Many women use the typical excuse to set what they are looking for in and around the candidate. These women will vote for these women’s husbands based on the focus of dress that the potential first lady is about to wear (Pascatore). This should have nothing to do with the politics what so ever. This is not something that we should base our country off of because of which we are not helping anything, and making the checkbook even more sad at the attempt to be just like the first lady. Sorry girls the way America works, is not something like that. We have not been able to come up with the money, even in a good economy to be the first lady, and we should strive to hear what her husband is up to in office, rather than catch up with her in the clothing department.

Based on the facts that more women vote, are we determined to believe that maybe they are voting for the popularity contest, which is being strived behind the actual politician? Do we see that there is a flaw? So if the statistic were re-evaluated, maybe we would come to find that the only reason more women vote is due to the amount of time spent for the first lady to succeed such a look to gain the attention? (Lowen)

Where you should look to go to even register. This is the easy part. All you have to do is get online and look it up or go to your local library and walk to up to the community bulletin board, you will normally find some of the registration forms there. This is the best way in my opinion, because all you need is a stamp and a pen after that and you don’t end up with your information going somewhere you don’t want it to or to find that you registered for something different. The advantage of going to the local library is you are registered in the correct county and his correct state while the internet may lead to you having more information, which you are unfamiliar with.

Remember with the unfamiliar, you could be stepping into a trap. Take what you know and look into it before you vote. This could be through your library or even through some research to see if you have found what you are looking for in the candidate. They can be good on the outside but watch what they do from the inside out. Listen to those phone calls that come around election time. Make sure you see the flyers, which are left with your name on it. They do want you to see what you think they are made of. But be wary of those ads some may harm what you think about another candidate. Make sure that you can be aware of all the possibilities. And don’t just follow the crowd because your decision matters too. For every voter has a chance, if they want to take the chance and research, what it is they do not know…

Works Cited

Bernstein, R.B. THe Constitution of the United States with the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation. Barnes and Noble Inc, 2002.

David L. Hudson, Jr. The Bill of Rights The First Ten Amendments of the Constitution. Washington D.C.: Library of Congress, 2002.

Egan, Tracie. Voting. New York: Rosen Publishing Group, 2004.

Ginsburg, Justice Ruth Bader. The Bill of Rights a users guide. Washinton D.C.: Library of Congress, 1991.

Journal, National. The Virtual Voting Booth. 4 November 2000. 8 September 2010 <

Leavitt, Amie Jane. The Bill of Rights in Translation. Mankato: Capstone Publishing, 2009.

Lewis, Jone Johnson. The Day the Suffrage Battle Was Won. 26 August 1920. 20 September 2010 <

Lowen, Linda. Who's More Likely to Vote- Women or Men? 19 June 2010. 20 September 2010 <

Murphy, Patricia J. Voting and Elections. Minneapolis: Compass Point Books, 2002.

Pascatore, Brittney. Politics hits the catwalk. 1 January 2007. 8 September 2010 <

Skousen, W. Cleon. The Making of America. Malta: National Center for Constitiutuional Studies, 1985.

Taylor-Butler, Christine. The Bill of Rights. New York: Scholastic, 2008.

Voter Education and Outreach. Education Fund. 1 October 2005. 8 September 2010 <

Woods, Geraldine. Right to Bear Arms. New York: Facts on File Inc, 2005.