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A little boy is turning nine today. He and his mother are walking back home from the market. They just finished begging for the day’s meal…again, His father works for a few cents a day in the rice fields and is no longer able to support his wife and his three children. The mother just got by the Taliban authorities trying to sneak an extra piece of bread under her burka to give to her son for his birthday. Her execution date is set for 8:00 tomorrow morning on the old soccer fields.

This is an example of some of the sonsequences that could result from a sovereign nation surrendering its powers to a single person or authority. Voting is the largest check on the government by the people that keeps the power with us, the people. Voting allows a nation to place officials that reflect the will of the people in the government. In this way, it is actually the people of the United States of America that run the nation, rather than the government officials themselves. The government officials jobs are to act upon the will of the people. In this respect, the right of the American People to vote is not only a right, but also an obligation. Without the participation of the public, a democracy cannot be sustained at his highest efficiency rate. The simple definition of the word democracy is a system in which the people have the ultimate power and control. One of the most important ways for the people of the United States to participate and influence our democracy is by voting. The American public must actively participate in our government to make it successful.

Our government is meant to represent the ideals of our country as a whole. The only way for our country to be run as we would like it to be is to elect the leaders of our choice. Other ways of participating in the Government, such as writing letters to Congressmen, participate in public poles, and even running for a government office, does not compare to the significiance of voting. Letters to officials express opinions, but they are only suggestions to our government. Public poles show leaders how the public feels, but these are incorrect because not everyone is able to participate. Running for an office is important as well when duty calls, but without the public’s vote, this can’t be sufficient either. Voting is the only concrete way of insuring our future as a democratic society.

A little American boy is turning nine today. He and his mother just got home from the market, after stopping at the local bakery to pick up his birthday cake. His father will be home from the office in two hours to celebrate in the festivities. The little boys friends will be waiting for him at his house tomorrow morning to wake him up for his surprise birthday party, at 8:00.

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