Voter turnout in the United States is less than amazing. On average, voter turnout nationwide is 37 percent; during a year with a presidential election it will get be between 50-60 percent.

In the United States we have the right to vote, and the right not to vote. Some countries employ “compulsory voting,” meaning citizens are legally required to vote.  In countries like Australia that have compulsory voting, voter turnout gets up to 99 percent.

Are you for the legalization of marijuana?  On the 2010 California ballot, Prop 19, which aimed at the legalization of marijuana, lost by a mere 7 percent.  Considering how few people take advantage of the voting process (only 27 percent of California bothered to vote), that means the proposition lost by only 689,608 votes.  California’s population is over 37 million.

Rick Santorum defeated Mitt Romney in the Iowa Republican Caucus by 34 votes.  Thirty four votes meant the difference between victory and defeat.

“Every vote counts towards the making of this nation, and the participation of everyone who is able to do so helps better the living conditions for those who join in,” Fresno City College student Reynaldo Vazquez said showing his desire for the right to vote.  Vazquez is a “permanent resident” in the United States and ineligible to vote.

Those who do not have our freedom, like Vazquez, would take the opportunity to vote in a second.  “It would mean a lot to me to be able to be a part of the voting process, because the United States needs to be united through its people,” Vazquez said.

I’m not advocating voting just for the sake of voting; just take the time to participate in the system.

Take 10 minutes and read about some propositions on the ballot, decide what your opinion is, and vote on the issues you know about.  Do not vote based on television ads or hearsay alone.  TV ads aren’t legally bound by the truth.  You don’t have to vote on every issue on the ballot, you shouldn’t vote on things you know nothing about anyway.

Sample ballots are mailed out every election so you can read what is being voted on.  If you become an absentee voter they will mail your ballot directly to you.  Becoming an absentee voter is easy and you can vote by mail without ever having to physically go to the polls.

We live in a democratic society, but we do not exercise our democracy.  The problems of our nation cannot be solved if no one will utilize the system we’ve built.  If the government gave citizens the requirement that they had to either vote or sit on a jury, it would probably raise the enthusiasm level for both.

Luckily for the American citizen who cannot be bothered with serving the country in which they live, we have the right to shrug off our freedoms.  Things like voting and jury duty are not meant to punish us, they are meant to give the freedom that our forefathers did not enjoy.

“I don›t know anything really about politics, so I don›t want to vote since it would be wasted,” said Sergio Macías, a student at FCC.

It might be hard to see sometimes, but your vote can really make a difference in the outcome of an election, the enaction of a new law, or the overturn of a law you feel is unjust.   Your vote counts as much as a billionaire’s vote does.  The only way to waste your vote is to not cast it.