In my seventh grade U.S. History class, I learned about the great country of the United States of America and how it came to fruition. I had, of course, known the basics from elementary school, but this deeper dive was required by the Louisiana state education curriculum. I don’t remember much from the entire course but I do remember that in that class, I witnessed and studied the 2016 presidential election.
Growing up, I was told that voting was the way that the American people were able to let their voice be heard and able to make a difference. However, after witnessing the 2016 presidential election, I slowly began to come to the conclusion that that was false information.
For those of you who don’t know or don’t remember, the 2016 presidential election was the election in which former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were the two main candidates vying for the presidency. Once the popular vote, meaning the votes of the citizens of America, had been cast, it was determined that Hillary Clinton was the winner of that process.
I knew that though Clinton had won the popular vote, we still had to wait for the results of the electoral votes to find out who was going to be our next president. As we, the people of America, select our electors, I was sure that Clinton was going to be the next president. On Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016, I was proven to be incorrect and I lost the majority of my hope in the American government.
This election, and those that subsequently followed, both state and nationwide, continued to instill in me this feeling of numbness and inadequacy when it came to the part that I played in our country. I couldn’t understand how voting was supposed to be something that I took pride in participating in, yet if/when I voted, it seemed to be almost as insignificant as if I hadn’t voted to begin with.
From that moment on, I had it in my mind that I would most likely never register to vote. As I watched politics continue to play out over the years, I held onto this position quite fervently. However, this past summer, after having a few meaningful conversations with my aunt and encountering a few lost souls, I decided that instead of viewing myself as a victim to the system, I should start seeing myself as the potential person that could tip the scales.
The first step that I took, after deciding that I was actually going to register to vote, was finding out exactly what my political views are and what political party they align with most. I took a political view quiz online, and I found out that my views most aligned with the Socialist party. At that point, I was intrigued and happy.
Some stances/beliefs of the Socialist party are that society should be classless, reproductive rights should be reinstated, minimum wage should be at least $25/hour, schools should include comprehensive sex education, funding for HIV/AIDS research, and universal healthcare. As soon as I read and researched those stances, I think I almost cried tears of joy and acknowledgement.
I told my aunt my results, and while she wasn’t upset, she didn’t exactly have the best reaction. She asked a lot of questions about what socialist views are and whether or not that meant that I was going to vote against any democratic candidates. I honestly didn’t have many answers for her, other than I didn’t think that she had anything to worry about. She was also concerned that my views may be too radical for the rest of my family.
Considering that I spent the majority of my life concerned about what my family thought about my decisions, I didn’t feel comfortable with my aunt saying that, however, I understood what she meant. Some of the views I have are a bit radical and sometimes, they even scare me, but I don’t plan on equivocating on them.
As we near the 2024 presidential election, I still have this icky feeling towards voting. I feel like it has less to do with voting itself though, and more so who I am/should be voting for. I don’t particularly approve of any of my options this go-around, so I don’t feel comfortable voting for someone that I don’t approve of. I only feel that I have one option, but even that option kind of sucks in my mind.
However, I did just register to vote and not voting feels like it would be such a waste of my registration. With the election being in November, I still have time to formally decide whether or not I will actually cast my vote. I will do my best, from now until then, to make a choice, but it honestly doesn’t seem as imperative to make sure it gets decided.