It seems people cannot express what is on their minds through only a vote. Nor can they all be represented because they cannot influence others on what they believe in. In Utah, it seems that the public opinion on social issues are biased to one side. Many people have come together in their ability to exercise their constitutional right of speech up to the National scale. Some examples range from protesting; like striking as union or communities abstaining from doing business with a company, all down to simply putting a “VOTE MAYOR SO-AND-SO” on their front yard or sharing their feelings on social media. Whatever the media or genre in which the public mandates their opinion- many, especially in Utah- feel as though their voice falls a few steps short of real influence. The real issue is that voting has become almost obsolete in our current society.
In general, those of the Millennial Generation are finding it hard to vote for anything they feel isn’t “complex or compromising”. The Daily News reports that in 2016, several people were “terrified to vote” because they feel like neither of the candidates were supporting causes that they were in favor of. Without someone that this generation feels represents them personally, they tend to vote against the person that least represents the important issues in their opinion. Thus the vote isn’t for a desired option, rather against an undesired option. In another sense, the same problem extends to people of other generations. Utah has several generational gaps, with a more conservative elder generation who are descendants of pioneers to a newer or outside view. Many people can feel like their personal opinion cannot be heard because, quite simply, they are mis-represented or unseen.
In trying to turn heads nationally, airing on the once-televised (but now property to Netflix) drama ‘Designated Survivor’, real life people have the chance of being chosen to bring up their actual opinions on recorded interviews- aired on screen. These interviews are shown in a fictional setting, as they are shown to influence the independent candidate (Acting President) in his decisions as the runs for an election. The show is used to televise "situations out of the political [realm] and shows you these things are really happening in the world,"- said one of the producers of the show as reported by TV-insider. The idea behind the show is to prove to the public that they can speak out and be heard. Even though on screen the effect is powerful and makes a difference, still- TV-Line, another newsfeed reporting on the attempt, noted that bringing the attention of these real life issues to the White House would be far more difficult than airing the show.
Some people believe that voting apathy (abstanation because there is no point in failing), a very common practice in the state of Utah, is better than voting. According to Pew Research, too many Americans feel as though their own Federal Government is not to be trusted. They report that “just 37% say they have at least a fair amount of confidence in elected officials to act in the best interests of the public; 63% have ‘not too much’ or ‘no confidence at all.’” It’s not uncommon that American citizens have a little mistrust in their government. With an open ended question; “Why is there less confidence in the federal government today than 20 years ago?”, answers were more than helpful. One said “the system never improves,” another said that “government officials lead a life of bigotry and self-aggrandizement.” In response to the effect of low confidence in the government, one person said: “Confidence in the federal government helps the country work well together. We are currently fighting each other.”
Why then vote if there is no trust in the system? Christopher Munsey, in his article “Why do we vote?” puts it simply as he references a psychologist’s findings: “If I'm an American, and Americans vote, then the act of voting is an expression of who I am”. With our right under the microscope- it’s understandable that many people feel like their own opinion is complex and misrepresented. Even trying to understand opinions on topics presented at the State of the Union Speech (presented by Pew Research) can be confusing. Opinions are always changing, and are manipulable. As shown in the dark cloud of commanding behind
- a data collection agency, it is gathered that people’s choices aren’t perfectly theirs to choose- even though they have confidence in their choices. In their wake, yet another reason to mistrust the system has been born.
Without a way to truly understand and perfectly represent the entirety of the American people, there is no perfect way to furnish the state- even if it is based on polled results- to each citizen. It is easy to desire a perfect community through the delegation of equal rights and equal opportunity, however, it cannot be realized if each person believes and lives in a different ideology- and aren’t willing to change. In essence, for some, the “American Way” means to build up a perfect nation based on the free will and the rights of every citizen, and to base the construction of that system off the people themselves.
In parallel, not everyone can agree how to create the perfect system, especially if the problem with voting is growing with an expansive, diverse, and changing population. Mistrust in government is constantly growing stronger. Not every idea has the same end. Without a general ideal that 100% of the population can claim as a definitive goal or culture, and building upon that by choosing leaders that are clearly distinguished to direct and maintain it, with trust that all of the community will participate in it’s absolute execution, there can be no perfect society where every vote is heard and every person is represented. Voting is nearly dead.
