Why vote?
Across this vast country there are many millions of people, each and every one of them owning something they believe in; be it politics, faith, moral values, etc. But one thing above all remains clear - no matter what your belief - it is our preordained right as citizens of the United States to get out and vote.
And don't forget: under Federal law, your employer must let you leave work to vote on Election Day.
The following are quotes and opinions from some of the folks we encountered on the road:
"I don't even think I could show my face back at school if I didnt vote."
- High School Student, Groton, CT
"If you make $6 an hour, honey, you better get out there and vote!"
- New Registrant, Scranton, PA
"Just get out and V-O-T-E! You have no right to complain you have no right to argue, if you don't take the time to go out and push the lever, or pop the cord, or whatever...you have no right to say nothin' about the government...period".
- Jack, Waverly PA
"It's important to vote because if you don't vote then you can't complain about the people who were elected and the things that they did that you didn't like or you did like. So, I think you should vote because then you have a say. And I think one person counts. Even though a lot of people say they dont, but, if a lot of one persons didn't vote - or did vote - it could just change the election. So one person counts. The last presidential election look how close that was, and if just a few more people had voted they could have swung it one way or the other very easily.
And particularly here if you're in a small area like this where maybe you have a couple of hundred people voting...it just takes a couple of people to make the vote go one way or the other...so I think it's very important to vote...and I would urge everybody to do it."
- Bill, Williamsport, PA
"People that don't think their vote counts...aren't very proud of their American heritage, of what the American freedom stands for, and I guess they have to go and be in a foreign country sometime to see just exactly what happens when you don't have the right to vote and you can't make a change there...whereas, here, we have the ability to make a change..."
- Donna, Williamsport, PA
"Because when you live in a country like Saudi Arabia, like I did, and realize what privileges you don't have over there, and what we have here...everyone should live in a middle eastern country."
- Female Registrant, Paxton, NE
"I think the recent presidential election left a lot of concern in the hearts and minds of the people who are the voters...the vote signifies that everyone who takes the time and the energy, and researches a candidate...and reads about them, can be expressing their thoughts...about who should...lead...our country."
- Phoebe, State College, PA
"I think being citizens of a country with so many assets, and so much potential we have a really great responsibility to do just things around the world, and to participate in peacemaking, at home and abroad."
- New Registrant, Garman Opera House, Bellefonte, PA
"I have to think that most of them [apathetic citizens] don't have much of a sense of history how hard a struggle it was in the early years of our nation, what a wild and radical thing democracy was - we take it for granted. I think if you take a look at Iraq, you'll see how difficult it is for democracy to really take a footing."
- Minister, Altoona, PA
"All we ask of every other American, or every other person gay or lesbian, straight, supportive or not is to do the one thing that is the most important right we have as Americans and that is to vote. Not only should you vote but you should talk to people in your life and explain to them why it's important to vote, and if there's anyone reluctant - coming up with an excuse about not having a ride or feeling like it doesn't matter - it's your job to convince them why it matters. Take them to the poll, make sure they get where they need to be to vote."
- Carrie, Pittsburg, PA
"I have traveled all over the world and I love the USA, but we have our own problems and one is that people don't participate in our democracy, they take it for granted. It's something like brushing your teeth. If you feel like doing it, you do it or you don't. It's just so impossible to me that people don't realize that other places in the world there are dictatorships [where] they have no say in how their government is run. We have all of this and yet it isn't respected as a value."
- Martha, Pittsburg, PA
"People always get fired up about national elections, but in the end all politics are local and you have to care about who's your dog catcher and who sits on your city council and most importantly who's on your school board. When you don't vote you really are voting for things to stay the same. You're voting for whatever it is you don't like. You're voting for despair. You're voting for inertia...and in inertia...things always come apart. And we have to work together in order to make it all hang together."
- Stacey, Pittsburg, PA
"I got stunned into voting when Ronald Reagan beat Jimmy Carter. I just didn't think it was going to happen, I couldn't believe it happened. And I blamed myself because I didn't vote and I haven't missed an election ever since. I am a pro-choice, pro-health care, pro-economic growth, pro-Pittsburgh Steelers and Pirates fan who votes! What would I say to people who are apathetic about voting? The people who make you the most apathetic about voting want you to be that way. They count on being that way. You vote for them by their apathy. Apathy is not not a vote. Apathy is a vote for the people who want you to be apathetic."
- Sam, Pittsburgh, PA
"Everybody's vote counts. If it didn't, then we wouldn't need to have Election Day."
- Elderly Woman, Chagrin Falls, OH
"You matter! So if you don't vote then that's like one vote less than is gonna be heard."
- Nakia, Cleveland, OH
"Because we're always being blamed for the reason of the election going wrong, or, they're always saying if the black people would have gotten out and voted then things wouldn't have gone this way or things wouldn't have gone that way. So, just as a black person, I feel we should all get out and make a difference. Since they say our votes count, we should make that difference."
- Mother, Cleveland, OH
"I think it's important to vote because as an African American in the United States...for so long we couldn't vote, and since I just turned 18 I really want to take the opportunity to vote, for all those who didn't vote...and so it's realty important. My parents have always told me how important it is to vote...so I want to exercise my right to vote in the election."
- New Voter, Cleveland, OH
"We need a better president."
- Youth, Toldeo, OH
"This is the future of your children. The politicians in office decide who gets funding, how many teachers your school district has, how much child care your kid's going to get. They decide your housing. A whole array of issues not just you, but your children's whole entire future. When your kid is old enough to get into college, who's gonna get grants, who's gonna get into state schools. They set what the policies are, they set the policies for who gets into school, so you have a chance to decide yours and your children's future from now on! That's what the vote's for!"
- Curtis, Detroit, MI
"People cry and complain about laws, crime, especially in the inner city. People complain about zoning laws, neighborhood crime, drugs, but they don't get their ass up...and register to vote. And if they'd get up and register to vote, it's like a voice. So instead of complaining so much we encourage people to get out and register."
- Kenny, Detroit, MI
"If you don't vote, you don't got no right complaining about the bus that ain't on time, the army didn't do this, this senator, that senator didn't do whatever they allocated or said, what difference should it make to you? You didn't vote...so your voice is null and void."
- William, Detroit, MI
"Even if it's just one [vote], I'm not going to allow that to slip through my fingers just because I have a beef with the intellectual system as a whole. And I think the more people who don't vote, it basically gives our representatives the ability to do whatever they want...it just widens the gap further."
- Tyson, South Bend, IN
"Voting does matter. It matters a lot. Every vote counts, so everybody's gotta vote. Especially black people. If everybody'd vote, it'd be a lot different."
- James, Chicago, IL
"People are just tired of getting the wrong thing."
- Elderly Man, Atlantic, IA
"If you've got somebody in there, you wanna keep 'em, you better vote for 'em! And I...wanna keep em!"
- Farm Stand Worker, Outside of Kearney, NE
"Well I'll tell you man, I'm a convicted felon...I got off my paper, like everyone telling me I couldn't vote...but I knew better...I knew I could go and register and I did."
- Denver Resident, CO
"I think it's important to vote because it's an indication of what the citizens are motivated towards, because you can vote on referendums, you can vote for people. There are many different types of voting. For instance, referendums are important to vote on so that the city government knows where to go and how to proceed."
- Farmers Market Shopper, Salt Lake City, UT
"...It's a very important election this year. I myself am going to vote Republican...I think our safety, the safety of our children and our future depends on our strength and the world commitment to the fight on terrorism, so I urge all Americans to vote."
- Steve, Ogden, UT
"Well, I'm a Christian. I grew up in a Baptist home and I just have really strong beliefs about what God says. And basically he says murder is wrong, homosexuality is wrong, and I would vote to support that kind of thing."
- Adrianne, Pocatello, ID
"It's nice to vote for Mickey Mouse just to make a point, but this time it really counts."
- Eugene Resident, Eugene, OR
"How would you like it if I told you what kind of car you had to drive? If I told you where you had to go for school? That you can't go to this restaurant? I mean it's the same thing, people are making up their mind for you. You're giving up your vote. It's just pretty much saying, hey what do you pick for me?"
- Andrew, Eugene, OR