Think your vote doesn’t count? I have proof that it does.
Some people decide not to vote in an election because they think their solitary vote can’t possibly matter. I’ve learned from personal experience that it really can!
Some years ago, my city placed a measure on the spring ballot to renew the funding for a certain citywide activity. The measure was very poorly worded, both in the summary on the ballot itself and in the voter guide’s detailed explanation (all elections in Oregon are held by mail; it works great). Was the city asking to renew the current funding level, or was it asking for more money, and for what purposes? Would our taxes go up? If so, by how much? Or would they stay the same? I couldn’t tell.
I wasn’t opposed to funding this activity, but the language was sufficiently confusing that I simply couldn’t figure out just what would happen with a “Yes” vote. So I voted against the measure, because I didn’t know what I’d be voting for.
That measure failed by one vote: mine.
Okay, maybe someone else’s vote made the difference. But if I had chosen not to vote on the measure, the election would have ended in a tie. If I had voted for it, the measure would have passed. So my vote made not just a difference in this election; it made the difference.
