Today, the election polls close at 8 p.m. and then there will only be a bit of waiting before the announcement of the new President of the United States of America. I believe that everyone should have the right to vote as well as that every voice matters. However, I do not believe that a person should vote just for the sake of voting. 

I endlessly get asked who I am voting for and two predominate questions are asked when I say, “I am not voting:” “How can you be so un-American?” and “Why don’t you just vote? Vote for anyone because your voice matters.” If I do not only get this or some similar question, I sometimes will get glared at as if I am following Satan into the pits of hell for committing an unforgivable sin.

Okay, first of all, I am not un-American because I am simply exercising my right to vote or not vote. Second, yes, my voice matters. Everybody’s does, but I am not simply going to cast a vote for the next Commander-in-Chief when I only know the basics of what they stand for, and most of that comes from memes through social media. 

If I were to cast a vote and that person became President, then they made a decision that I found horrendous and it was something that a little research could have revealed about what they stood for, I would feel awful after the fact. Furthermore, I do not believe you should make an uninformed, monumental decision without knowing all the facts in a decision that theoretically happens only every four years. To cast a decision on who will help shape the future of America, well, I want to put as much time and effort into that decision as possible. 

But, at the current moment, I am dealing with all the issues I put in last week’s opinion. I am spending every free and waking moment trying to catch up on my graduate work so I can at least get a grade to progress forward. I’m just trying to keep my mind at peace to finish up the rest of this year and kiss goodbye to the worst of 2016’s memories. 

I will say this though, in four years, if I have the time to do the tedious research on the next  group presidential candidates, something that I believe everyone who votes should do, and I learn everything to make an informed decision that I could live with, then I will cast a vote for the 2020 President. However, this is not that year. 

To those who did their research, I hope you cast your vote in someone you truly believe in and I really hope that this year’s election didn’t turn the best of friends into enemies. That would not be a good sign for the next four years, which seems to be the case in what I’ve overheard from people when they talk about the drama they are having with a friend due to the disagreement of who they are voting for. 

Also, if you voted without doing your due diligence in the research who you voted on, then shame on you. I hope you are a tad bit wiser in 2020 and your vote is made by a well informed decision rather than just what social media or your friend’s opinion, which could be wrong, wants you to vote for. Cast your future vote on who you truly believe should be the next President and do it with dignity and honor, something lacking in America these days.