Do I vote in political elections?
Yes.
There. Question answered.
I could probably stop right here and have provided the most technically accurate response possible. The question did not ask how I vote. It did not ask who I vote for. It did not ask what party I support, which candidates I like, which candidates make me want to fake my own disappearance, or whether I think the country is currently moving in the right direction, the wrong direction, or backing slowly into a ditch while the hazard lights blink.
It asked, “Do you vote in political elections?”
Yes.
This is one of the reasons I despise yes-or-no questions in writing. I talk to my journalism students about this during morning announcements all the time. Someone will write, “Do you like playing games? Do you want to join a club that is all about playing games?”
Well, what if I don’t?
What if my answer is no? What if I prefer sitting quietly in a dim room alphabetizing soup cans? The announcement is still going to keep talking to me as if I just answered yes.
Students do the same thing in essays.
“Do you wish your parents would let you spend more time on the Internet?”
No, actually. Maybe my parents are right. Maybe I already spend enough time online. Maybe I have achieved full goblin mode and need to go outside before my spine permanently curves into the shape of a gaming chair.
But the essay keeps going anyway.
That’s the problem with yes-or-no questions. They invite an answer, then usually ignore it.
So when WordPress asks me a yes-or-no question, the smart aleck in me wants to give the exact answer the question deserves.
Yes.
I vote.
I vote because it matters. I vote because citizenship should not be a spectator sport. I vote because people before me sacrificed so ordinary citizens could have a voice in how they are governed. I vote because local, state and national decisions affect real people in real ways.
But I also prefer not to talk much about my political inclinations.
I am a registered Independent, and that is not an accident. In Florida, voter party affiliation is public information, and I teach students who are perfectly capable of researching their teachers. Since I teach journalism, I would rather not invite assumptions, arguments or accusations by planting myself under one party label or another.
Besides, lately I’m not exactly standing in line to get either party’s logo tattooed on my forehead.
So I cast my ballot diligently, privately and quietly. I make my choices. I do my part. Then I let my vote speak for itself.
There is one political opinion I will share openly, though.
If you don’t vote, I don’t think you have earned the right to spend the next four years complaining about the country.
That goes for both sides. Right, left, middle, upside down, diagonally confused — whatever. If you want to gripe about the government, the least you can do is spend a few minutes participating in the process that helps choose it.
Voting does not make everything better. It does not fix every problem. It does not guarantee that your preferred candidate will win, or that the winner will suddenly become wise, humble, competent and allergic to microphones.
But voting is one of the basic ways we participate.
So yes, I vote in political elections.
That’s my answer.
And technically, it was my answer 700 words ago.
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Copyright © 2025 Doug DeBolt.
