April 11 is the last day to register to vote in North Carolina if you want to participate in the May 6th primary. Every four years, we have the honor of participating in the selection of the highest executive, the most powerful person, in the United States, and by some measures, the world. Voting is always important, it’s your chance to make your voice heard. The vote is a right, not a privilege, and now more than ever it’s a duty.
The last eight years have seen our nation ruled by incompetence at best, and bloody-minded antipathy at worst. In between, we have seen our economy implode and our soldiers bloodied and scattered throughout the Middle East. We have seen everything from gross exaggeration to bald-faced lies. Our politics have become clotted with blood and misplaced religious fervor. In short, we have seen the consequence of an apathetic electorate- the crazy and the brutal end up voting, while the reasonable go to work.
This year is our chance to step up and admit that we care. We may be ashamed of what our country has done, but it’s still our country, and we have to take care of it.
April 11 is the chance for all of us, North Carolinian and out-of-state alike, to participate. With the Democratic nomination still in the air, North Carolina’s primary is more crucial than usual, and if our generation comes and votes in primaries we will send a strong message that we are involved, that we care about the future, that we who are of age to die in a war would like to pick the old people who can send us there.
Half of us have never voted before. Few have been of age long enough to vote in even one other presidential election. None of the traditional students were able to vote in 2000, when all of this began. It’s an honor, as I’ve said, to be a part of this election, of this democracy, and to waste your chance is an insult.
This year, we face an open field. Vote in the primary, Democrat or Republican. Become involved. Become active. History may remember this election and judge our generation for the choice we make.