by Zabrina Whitman, Ratification Policy Analyst, KMKNO

Do you vote in elections? If you said “yes”, you already know how important this process is. Voting is the exercise of asserting your individual rights to decide what is best for you. But if you said “no”, did you know that you are losing out on an opportunity to express your opinion and have your say in a decision-making process that will affect you and your family?

Sometimes politics are seen as a foreign world where things happen and decisions are made by others, without taking into account your thoughts or opinions. Sometimes we can feel like those decisions don’t relate to our everyday life. But, this is why voting is encouraged by all governments – they want to have the opinions and decisions come from the people.

Voting is a way to ensure that everyone gets a chance to voice their opinion and that the outcome reflects what the majority wanted. If you don’t vote, you lose your chance to have a say – this limits your ability to be part of a decision and to ensure that leadership is accountable.

As you may know, voting is a central part of any democratic process. Research has shown that there is a direct impact between voter turn-out and government accountability. Basically this means that when more people show an interest in voting, an overall awareness is created in governance and people make sure that their elected representatives are accountable. However when individuals don’t vote, it can be perceived that (whether tr ...

To view the full story, you must be a subscriber. Click here for information on how to subscribe.

 

Tags: , , ,