I'm so pleased with my daughter Shelby. She has won first prize in an essay contest about "Why You Should Vote". She was asked this past week to read her essay aloud to an organization and she did well with that also. Here is her essay, in case you'd like to read it:

The Importance of Voting

By Shelby Robertson

Why is voting important? Many people have asked this very question. Most people think that their vote doesn’t count, that it is a waste of time, but the only way democracy works is if everybody votes and puts their opinion into action. Voting is a right and privilege. It is also your responsibility as a citizen of the United States. You should vote because you will be stating your opinion, it is your right, and your responsibility.

Your opinion can only be heard if you vote. Voting is letting your personal voice be heard as one, and collectively as a whole with the millions of other people in the United States. If we don’t vote, then the government will not know what “We the people” want. The outcome of every election affects each and every one of us in a particular way, good or bad. If you are not voting with the majority, you still live with the outcome of the election. The act of voting is not a guarantee but is a right that has been afforded to you by others that have fought and died for that right.

Voting is truly a privilege that none should take lightly. Before the 1900s, only white men who were landowners were given the right to vote; but in 1920 white women were given the right through the 19^th amendment. In 1870 through the 15^th amendment, African Americans were “given” the right. Here in the United States, we get to make our own choices and yet some people still choose to have others make their decisions for them. In some countries, they don’t get to vote, and their opinion is given to them. If people from oppressed countries had the opportunity to vote in America, they would definitely make it a priority to be at a voting booth on the day of elections. Voting isn’t only your privilege; it is also your duty as a citizen of the United States.

Hilary Clinton once said, “Voting is the most precious right of every citizen and we have a moral obligation to ensure the integrity of our voting process.” Voting is not merely making a mark on a ballot to pick a candidate or put a law into action, but is making and educated and informed decision that changes the course of history. This is why voting is a responsibility that comes with age. We have elected our first African American president because “We the people” took the responsibility to pick the person that fit our vision of the future.

So why is voting important? Many elections have been won by a mere margin that have saved a country or was its demise. In 1800, ONE VOTE in the Electoral College gave Thomas Jefferson the Presidency over Aaron Burr. In 1923, ONE VOTE gave Adolph Hitler leadership of the Nazi party. Voting is important. Everybody in the United States should vote to have a say in what happens to their country, because it is something they have a right to do, and it is something that is an obligation. In America, we have a chance to write our own history books by just making a mark on a piece of paper. That is why every American should vote.