Sonal Madala: Week 12: The Power of One Vote
People often question why their one vote matters, well does it? Does one vote affect anything?
Yes, it does.
In 2016, San Francisco supervisor, Jane Kim, ran for State Senate. In her position as state supervisor, she had a generally high approval rate, thus leading voters to believe that she was a shoo-in for the Senate. With this confidence, many voters stayed home on election day, believing that the rest of the voters would make up for their absence. Unfortunately for Kim, she lost to Scott Wiener by only 14 votes. Though Kim “pull[ed] out a first place finish” in the primaries, election day proved to be a disappointment. Kim–"a fighter for the middle class”, had support mostly from young renters, often liberal, and her loss proved to be a huge step back for liberals across the San Francisco and San Mateo counties.
Although it may seem like everyone has a vote, states across the nation have implemented and continue to add restrictions to skew the voting population. For example, some states accept hunting licenses as valid IDs for voting, but not college ID cards. This leaves the question of who truly has a vote in America. Is it the younger generation–that will make up 61% of the voting population by 2036? Or is it the older, often more orthodox populations who value solutions to problems that do not directly affect the majority?
In other states, voters are not allowed to vote on the day they register, a common trend among younger voters. Although this isn’t voter oppression by technicality, it is clear that some systems inherently favor certain groups over others. Other states allow partisan poll watchers to move freely within polling areas, including carrying guns, often as an intimidation tactic.
Whether you see it or not, America doesn’t make every vote equal, or at least the lengths one must go to to make their vote is not equal. Therefore, it is important to register, or at least preregister to vote to ensure a smooth voting progress and ensure that every voice matters.
If 15 people decided to go to the polls during the 2016 election for Senate, Jane Kim would have been able to continue her work fighting for renters' rights and creating policy to help the bottom half of society.
So do you think one vote matters?
Yes, it does.
In 2016, San Francisco supervisor, Jane Kim, ran for State Senate. In her position as state supervisor, she had a generally high approval rate, thus leading voters to believe that she was a shoo-in for the Senate. With this confidence, many voters stayed home on election day, believing that the rest of the voters would make up for their absence. Unfortunately for Kim, she lost to Scott Wiener by only 14 votes. Though Kim “pull[ed] out a first place finish” in the primaries, election day proved to be a disappointment. Kim–"a fighter for the middle class”, had support mostly from young renters, often liberal, and her loss proved to be a huge step back for liberals across the San Francisco and San Mateo counties.
Jane Kim and Scott Wiener at the State Senate Debate on April 6, 2016.
Image from The San Francisco Chronicle
In other states, voters are not allowed to vote on the day they register, a common trend among younger voters. Although this isn’t voter oppression by technicality, it is clear that some systems inherently favor certain groups over others. Other states allow partisan poll watchers to move freely within polling areas, including carrying guns, often as an intimidation tactic.
Whether you see it or not, America doesn’t make every vote equal, or at least the lengths one must go to to make their vote is not equal. Therefore, it is important to register, or at least preregister to vote to ensure a smooth voting progress and ensure that every voice matters.
If 15 people decided to go to the polls during the 2016 election for Senate, Jane Kim would have been able to continue her work fighting for renters' rights and creating policy to help the bottom half of society.
So do you think one vote matters?
Hi Sonal! I love how your blog dives into the unfair practices that happen in voting. Before I read your blog, I had thought that my vote specially would not make such a difference, but if a big group were to vote then it would. I was look upon how big numbers could only make big changes but in reality we all can no matter how big or small our numbers are. After reading your article, I can definitely say that everyone's vote is important even with Jane Kim needing 15 more people to vote. I also liked how you went into detail about how America has favoritism for only a specific group which would be the old voters. I feel that America sees the younger generation as too childish and that we will never be mature enough to vote. I also think that it reflects to how highly the older generation thinks of themselves. Maybe they believe that their vote is priority possibly because they know more about it then we do. But I can definitely see your point on how it is quite dumb of them to even think this especially since our generation will make up the population for voters in many years time. Thank you for sharing your blog!
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