Re: Benash: Why I Am Not Voting This Election Day
Count me among those who are “gnashing my teeth” at W. Richard Benash’s ill-advised arguments against voting. I advocate voting, but not because “it’s your civic duty” or because “if you don’t vote, you have no right to complain.” We should vote precisely because, as Benash says, it is a choice.
Do I like the choices of candidates? No. Do I agree with everything done by candidates I have chosen? No. Do I object to the process of electoral financing? Absolutely yes. What Benash ignores is that refusing to vote is a choice to allow those problems to continue. It is a choice to support those who oppose our participation. It is a vote in favor of tyranny and consolidation of power.
Benash quotes Malcolm X’s “The Ballot or the Bullet” speech. But that speech was delivered for the purpose of encouraging Black activism through voting. Malcolm X used the occasion of the newly passed Civil Rights Act to counter the Nation of Islam prohibition on participation in the political process.
Malcolm X criticized both parties, as Benash notes, but he did NOT say the answer was not to vote. To the contrary, X said in his speech, “It’s time now for you and me to become more politically mature and realize what the ballot is for; what we’re supposed to get when we cast a ballot; and that if we don’t cast a ballot, it’s going to end up in a situation where we’re going to have to cast a bullet. It’s either a ballot or a bullet … By ballot I only mean freedom. Don’t you know … that the ballot is more important than the dollar?”
Failing to vote when you have the choice denies freedom to those who do not have that choice due to gerrymandering, racism, fearmongering and other barriers. People in this country die for this right to choose. The votes they enabled made a difference. What differences could we make if the 80 million eligible voters who did not vote in 2024 all voted?
Refusing to vote is a choice to give freedom to reign to those criticized by Benash. Vote to rein them in. Choose candidates who most closely adhere to your positions. Choose to be a pragmatic radical. Choose to vote.
And, by the way, if you go to your local town clerk and register before June 2, you will not have to overcome new barriers that the New Hampshire state legislature put in place to make it difficult for students to vote.
Kim Rosenfield is an attorney, passionate advocate for voting rights and volunteer poll watcher in every election. She works at Dartmouth as the director of the Dartmouth Technology Transfer Office. Guest columns represent the views of their author(s), which are not necessarily those of The Dartmouth. This column represents Kim Rosenfield’s personal views, and not any opinion held in her capacity as a Dartmouth employee.
