I truly believe my vote matters. My neighbor, a political science professor at the University of Washington, keeps explaining to me that statistically it has little to no impact. I keep hearing about these “super delegates” which, unless a clear front runner emerges, will likely get together in some smoke filled room in Colorado and decide who the nominee for the democratic party will be. Despite all this, I still feel my vote matters, and I believe strongly in making my voice heard.
The town I grew up in, Durham, a tiny suburb of Portland, Oregon, consisted of roughly 800 people. Durham, the metropolis that it is, incorporated in the 1970’s to save trees. We didn’t have a post office or our own zip code, we used the neighboring towns, or a police station, we paid the neighboring police department to drive through every now and then, but we did have an active local politics scene. The city made it nearly impossible to cut down a tree, even if it was in your own yard. I can hear the internet gasping “Tree huggers”. I know, bear with me.
In the house I grew up in, behind my back fence, there was an undeveloped stretch of forrest, commonly called “the forrest” by my friends and I. Many of my summers were spent hacking through it, creating bike jumps on the trails and performing sick BMX tricks through it. It was a magical place, even if there were a few dumped washing machines and ovens covered with ivy.
When I was 18 there was a ballot measure on the books to raise the city property taxes in order to keep it from being developed. Like most 18 year olds, I wasn’t particularly politically active. My life consisted of school and basketball—not usually in that order. Luckily, my neighbors helped me register to vote in time because it was a fiercely fought battle. There were yard signs, people spoke at the smaller then your average classroom City Hall and one family even put up a huge billboard on the main road that went through town.
The measure passed by one vote.
Portland has since engulfed Durham and the whole area is packed with new malls, restaurants and office parks, but even now that small stretch of property still remains. To this day, I still believe it was my vote that made it happened.
It’s been almost 10 years since then, and I haven’t felt that politically charged since attending my precincts caucus at Hamilton Middle school yesterday. People walked from all over my neighborhood and packed the school’s auditorium. I talked with neighbors I hadn’t seen in months and met a few new ones. Issues and the candidates were fervently discussed, and after a few hours our delegates were chosen. No, the outcome didn’t change from all that debate but it was inspiring to see so many people engaged and excited about what’s happening politically.
I just hope the momentum continues. I just want people interested in making their voice heard.