The past few presidential elections have shown us that votes, in many ways, truly matter. I’m almost certain this same principle is all the more applicable for elections from the state level all the way down to local city elections in your own community.
For one reason or another, there is a collective feeling among many Republican voters in predominantly red states that sometimes their vote doesn’t matter. Whether this is due to an overwhelming amount of support on the right or the left, there are many people who choose not to vote solely based on this feeling.
In the past presidential election our eyes were opened to the fact that there are voters out there who had never voted once in their adult life, but the political circumstances surrounding them inspired them to vote. Nobody knows for sure whether or not Trump’s victory can be attributed to this sleeper group of voters, but they certainly helped.
The point is, every vote counts. They always matter and will always make a difference. Take, for example, a recent election in Virginia last month. Prior to the election, the state Republicans had maintained a majority in the State House by just one seat, that is, until the election last month.
Shelly Simonds won her election by a single vote – 11,608 to 11,607. Her win meant an even split in the State House, now at 50-50 – something that has not happened in the 400-year history for the House of Delegates.
If there is one thing to learn from this, it is that votes actually count. I imagine there are at least 2 Republican voters who chose not to vote that day, feeling that their vote really would not matter. In this case, as with all others, it really does.
Elections are not won by hoping your party shows up at the polls. It is done by making sure each individual you come on contact with will make it to the poll, then one by one, the votes will stack up in your favor.
