Obvious right? Voting is important. Sometimes throughout history casting lots, drawing a name out of a bag, or following some leader’s decree has decided things. And there are times when a clear consensus determines who should do what. But in today’s world, an election results in the most honest reflection of what we think is best for our country or our world. If you have the privilege of voting, you should do that. It’s part of freedom and responsibility and citizenship.

So are you voting? Here in the United States, 2013 is not a presidential election year. Even last year when we did elect a president, a disproportionate number of people seemed convinced that the election somehow wasn’t about them. I can still hear them. That their vote won’t make a difference. That they don’t like any of the candidates anyway. That no one who is any good dares run for elective office. That it is too much of a hassle.

Because I’ve worked for women’s organizations and have heard the stories of women’s suffrage repeated over and over, I particularly don’t understand women who don’t care that in 1917 several women were imprisoned for two months where they were essentially tortured, humiliated, and force fed when they went on a hunger strike so that she, the woman of today who doesn’t have time, could go to the polls last year, this year, next year, and every election year in the future and cast a vote.

And I don’t understand people who don’t appreciate the fact that we can just walk or drive to the polls and not be hassled at all except by those people standing a prescribed distance from the door campaigning for their candidate. Don’t appreciate that they’re not in a country where people risk their lives to go to the polls, where observers from other countries are invited to keep elections honest, and where the voters often don’t think much of their choices either, but are grateful that there are choices to be made.

For those into politics voting is fun. And even the rest of us make a game of it. Spirit Moxie tried to take a poll on Facebook for the best motto for the site. (You can still have a say. Do we talk about “little things to make the world work”? Or “little things to change the world”?)

But some games get huge results. For example during the Christian season of Lent, Forward Movement Publications plays with a certain sports metaphor by creating a “game” called Lent Madness. It creates a bracket of saints (yes, saints). But the competition between them is the vote! On each designated day people vote to declare bracket winners, as the competition goes through the days of Lent. Hundreds vote daily. The event has almost 1,500 followers on Twitter, more than 5,000 likes on Facebook, and was even mentioned  in Sports Illustrated!   People take sides, even organizations take sides. And it’s quite clear that votes count. (“The polls close in an hour and only 20 votes separate the two…”)  Here politics, voting, a little education, and a sense of play all come together. I’ve seen people campaign for their favorite saints and I’m told there are parties on election days.

But on the national election front voting somehow can get careless. It doesn’t have to be. It shouldn’t be. Last year I remember physically wending my way to the downtown office of the Board of Elections because I didn’t trust a mail-in absentee ballot. This year I congratulated a friend who made sure to vote before she headed off on a cruise. And as I don’t always know multiple local candidates, I called someone who does, who also shares my political views, for some input.

So are you willing to vote for fun? Are you willing to vote because whatever the issues are where you live, controversial or not, voting says you are willing to help change the world?

Picture credits from the top
voting instructions — liz west
Women in horse-drawn carriage and on foot march in street for voting rights carrying banners “Mothers Prepare the Children for the World…” “Women Need Votes…” and “Suffrage Pioneers…” — Kheel Center
041009_voting_bcol.h2 — Isaac Mao
Would billionaires spend millions to influence your vote if it had no value? — DonkeyHotey/Flckr