Does everyone’s vote count? Well yes and no. Turns out that even though every vote is equal, some are more equal than others. This sounds confusing but hear us out. The facts are that through voter suppression, millions of votes every year are not counted as equally as others. For example, through big money donations, corporations are able to lobby local, state, and national government officials to legislate a certain way. Through voter roll purging–literally deleting voters from the voter files–hundreds of thousands of voters are not allowed to vote. Through a flawed absentee ballot system, thousands never receive their ballot to vote or their ballot isn’t received in time. Through gerrymandering, millions of voters are placed in districts where their votes count for less. So no, even though every vote should count equally, the reality is that there is a lot of inequality. Voting is your right, and none of these should be reasons why you are not allowed to vote or why your vote is not counted.

The good news is we know how to solve all these problems! The House passed HR1 in 2019, which would rewrite the rules for a fair and equitable democracy: limiting big money donations, who can be a lobbyist, commonsense redistricting reform, and an expansion of voting rights. Now we need to pass it in the Senate!

That is why it is so important to make an effort to register to vote. Because without exercising our voice at the polls, and demanding it is counted we cannot keep those in power accountable. The only way to fight against those who want to suppress your vote is doing the only thing that they don’t want you to do: SHOWING UP.