Why every American should exercise their right to vote Essay

Why every American should exercise their right to vote - Essay Example The future of civil liberties, it can be said, is in the hands of the American people. One of the major methods by which to participate in the democratic process is by casting a ballot to elect representatives and decide issues at every level of government. The vote is the voice of the people, without which the experiment fails because the very foundations of the country were laid by the people and for the people. Although many Americans make an effort to keep informed on political issues and enthusiastically exercise their responsibility to vote, the majority of those eligible to vote will not. This fact remains an enduring puzzle in a nation that considers itself the very symbol of democracy. Evidently, the countries that copied this system of government appreciate it more than Americans. Most nations in Europe routinely see a larger percentage of its citizens at the polls. The elections in Iraq last December drew 70 percent of eligible voters. Americans do not vote in those numbers and do not have to brave the chaos present in Iraq to access the polling booth (Woodward, 2006). The founding principles of the U.S. have been deemed by many to be worth fighting and dying for. Many thousands of brave Americans have traveled to all parts of the world to give their lives for the concepts contained in the Constitution. They fought for the freedoms of strangers in strange lands so that these people might have the choice to decide their own destiny by the power of the vote. When citizens vote, they authenticate the sacrifice of those that have paid the ultimate price for the right to vote. According to Senator Ted Kennedy, â€Å"Voting is one of the true blessings of liberty. That’s why people have died for it, and our democracy is diminished when even one American is denied that right† (Patterson, 2005). Democracy is also diminished when Americans decide not to exercise that right. The governmental hierarchy is bound by the vote to