Rock the vote

By Garrett Marshall

In the presidential election of 2012, Oklahoma ranked 49th in voter turnout. That’s right, our great state of Oklahoma was second to last in voter participation, beating only West Virginia.

As a person living in Oklahoma I found myself asking “how did this happen?” My conclusion was most Oklahomans who know anything about the political process and how the president is chosen, think that in a die-hard Republican state like Oklahoma, they already know where their electoral votes are going no matter what candidate they support.

To tell you the truth, they are not wrong. In every recent presidential race there has been no question as to where Oklahoma’s electoral votes are going – it’s to the republican candidate.

So why get out and vote when you know who will win in your state? Because who is going to be president next is not the most important person you are voting for. Honestly, if you really thought about it can you name one thing that has been directly changed in your life because Barack Obama is president? Probably not. To further expound on that point, most candidates you vote for on the federal level have very little direct impact on your life.

Now you might be asking yourself, if no one on the federal level has much impact on my future, which politicians should I be complaining about for ruining my life? The answer: your local politicians. These politicians, the ones that most people know nothing about, are the politicians that have the most influence over your life.

For example, are you wondering who is to blame for that pesky seatbelt law that made you get a ticket last week? I’ll give you a hint: it’s not Mr. Obama, it’s not Joe Biden, and no, it’s not even Sarah Palin. The culprit is your state legislature, not the federal one.

Your state legislature also decides other important things, the driving age, speed limits, education spending and state welfare spending.

I say all this to make the point that if you feel like your vote does not matter on the national scale then at least get out and vote for your state and local politicians that affect your life more.

However, mindless voting straight down party lines, as in if you are a Republican, you vote Republican no matter what, even on the local level, will probably not make your vote feel important either. Instead, get yourself educated on the candidates and vote for the one who you think is best for your own local government.

You could even try to get your friends and random strangers to vote for this person, which will make you feel even more involved in the political process – especially since most local elections, even those not held on nation-wide voting dates, are usually decided by a small margin. The margin is small enough that if all Oklahoma Christian students and faculty could vote for the same candidates for local positions, Oklahoma Christian alone could practically control who got into office.

All in all, if you have time to spend hours a week deciding and voting on “The Voice” you can spare the couple of hours per election cycle (every two years) to get yourself educated on people who actually matter in deciding your future.

Election day is just a couple of weeks away on Nov. 4. There is still time to register and send in an absentee ballot to your home state or vote right here in Oklahoma. If you want a right to complain about the government for these next two years, then at least make a small effort to try and change it to the way you would like it to be. Get out and vote!

Garrett Marshall is a junior at Oklahoma Christian University.

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