Why I Vote: A Letter to My Sister

My younger sister asked me the other day, “Why are you so obsessed with voting and getting people registered to vote?” To give you some backstory... I have been pretty adamant in the last two years about discussing politics, encouraging friends to register to vote, getting involved with organizations, and going to the polls no matter if its presidential, midterm, or local elections. I have become “the crazy voting lady”; but that is okay. After getting off the phone with my sister, I mulled over the conversation. How do I explain my passion to her and her friends who really don’t care much about elections, let alone politics? How do I verbalize something that I consider to be so extremely vital?Upon reflecting, I developed a list of reasons voting in elections is so essential to me.

1. It took until June 26, 2015 for my LGBTQ+ friend’s marriages to be federally recognized. I remember being so elated but also so mad that it took this long for something as simple as love to be recognized in the eyes of the government.
2. When I was in high school, my mom was unemployed and on food stamps but it wasn’t enough to feed her, my sister, and I. It was barely enough to pay for the rent and a few meals. The government has unrealistic ideas of living wages.
3. Some of my friends who went to school for Associate degrees don’t make a living wage of $15/hour but have thousands of dollars in student loan debt.
4. When I was in college, my dad was still unemployed from the recession. Since I was in college, I was no longer covered under state insurance and my college insurance rates were too expensive for me to cover since I only made $7.75/hour for 10-15 hours a week. I was uninsured and scared of every possible illness. Getting a cold was terrifying. “What if it escalated? I can’t go to urgent care. I don’t have $150 to cover this.” It was three months, but man those were three very stressful months.
5. During the recession, my dad and mom’s medications cost so much without insurance that they had to pick and choose which ones were essential on a given month.
6. It’s 2018 and my co-workers and friends of color are still scared to get pulled over by the police, because in the current climate, getting pulled over for a broken tail light has lead to death at the hands of those who serve.
7. My monthly student loan payment is more than my monthly rent payment.
8. Women are still afraid to speak up because even when a man does something that violates a woman he is welcomed with open arms by the highest law making entity in the United States or told his future is “too bright” for him to serve time in jail.
9. Our criminal justice system is broken. It is broken beyond repair. Men and women of color in disproportionate numbers go to jail because they can’t pay traffic fines or for minor drug charges. This becomes an easy way for the government to fully discriminate against them for housing, government aid, jobs, and most importantly - takes away their voice and ability to make a difference, by not allowing them to vote.  
10. If we aren’t voting for people who care about these dire issues, we will never see real change. Change happens on the floor of the House and the Senate. It happens when the right people are in office.

To my dear sister: I vote, because I want you to HAVE a future, a voice, a choice. I want you to matter. I want you to thrive in a country that believes everyone is equal. I believe that every vote is a step in that direction. Every vote counts. Your voice matters.Written by: Whitney Mooney, Administrative Assistant