My 18th birthday was one of the best days of my life. When I gained the right to vote, I was ecstatic. I viewed elections as my voice and as the public's time to shine and carve out our place in American history.
I was naive. I placed too much confidence in the American electoral system's ability to not only guarantee every American's right to vote, but also to represent every group that makes up our nation's melting pot.
I started to reconsider my confidence in American elections last week when King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia shocked millions of people by announcing that Saudi Arabian women would be able to vote and run for office. This is the largest advance for women's rights in Saudi Arabia in decades, a country where it is still illegal for women to leave the country without permission from a male guardian. But while municipal elections took place last week all over Saudi Arabia, women will have to wait until 2015 to take part, and they still don't have the right to drive themselves to the voting booth. This victory has to be remembered as a small success among restrictive and unfair voting laws plaguing nations around the world.
Even still, I don't want to understate the historic importance of this royal decree. According to BBC News, Saudi women are over the moon.
"I haven't been able to take my breath," said Hatoon al-Fassi, a university professor and women's rights activist in Riyadh. "We're so excited. We believe it's the response to our demands, the first step in our long struggle to get our rights."
While we celebrate Saudi Arabia's success that really should have happened years ago, we must recall America's own steps taken just recently that greatly infringe upon voting rights in over 35 states. The comparison of our elections with those in Saudi Arabia seems thin at best, but the notion that our elections are free of discrimination and malice couldn't be farther from the truth. In both cases, the right to vote is not in and of itself a panacea for societal problems.
In the past few days, new voting restrictions have come to light that may affect more than five million people nationwide, according to a study conducted by New York University School of Law. Laws requiring a government-issued voter ID card and proof of citizenship, the reduction of same day voter registration and absentee voting, and the disenfranchisement of felons combine to make voting much more strenuous and much less inclusive. Minorities, the poor and young voters will be the most significantly affected.
While I was always able to find problems with our country's government and policies, I thought our elections to be our redemption, our saving grace. How long will it be before minorities in America are unable to vote at all?
This comparison isn't meant to berate Saudi Arabia or even America. The fact that the right to vote has finally been granted to Saudi women is incredible and absolutely a step in the right direction. I only hope to draw attention to the fact that our own electoral system suffers from integral deficiencies. It is a very sad commentary on our country today when Saudi Arabia, a country notorious for withholding human rights, is taking steps towards a more inclusive voting block while America is moving away from one. Instead of being the leader in democracy, a title we should strive for, we are instead a leader in voter restrictions. It's very easy to forget the ethics and ideals our country stands for, and easier even to get lulled into a false sense of security when it comes to our own representation. That doesn't mean, however, that we should accept what seems to be out of our control as fact.
As we welcome the Republican primary to Dartmouth this month, kicking off the 2012 election season, I urge you to keep in mind the people unable to vote, the voices silenced by claims of justice and law. I urge you to remember your ethical responsibility to strive to see that our democracy isn't cheapened or stagnated by unduly harsh restrictions of voting rights, lest we choose to reduce ourselves to nothing more than a broken sounding board issuing feeble cries of freedom and liberty.
