It was "vote time" and a friend and I were discussing whom to vote for in the upcoming election. I couldn't help myself. I asked him whether he was going to vote for Donald Trump or for Joe Biden for president. His reply startled me. He looked me straight in the eye and said, "I don't like either one of them, so I'm not going to vote for anyone for president." Actually, I should not have been surprised. I lost count a long time ago of people telling me that they went to the polls only to vote for the lesser of two evils. If confession is in order, I'm probably also in that category, too.
But I voted! Voting is one of the privileges of living in the United States where everyone has the opportunity to express himself or herself at the polls and at any other time. Recently, Vice-President Harris praised a young person who expressed her disagreement with the Biden administration for giving money to Israel because she felt such action led to genocide. The media went ballistic claiming that Harris endorsed the idea that giving money to Israel amounted to some form of genocide. No, that's not what she said. She could have thoroughly put the young woman down by pointing out that there were a lot of important reasons for providing funding to Israel, but she didn't. She affirmed the young woman and the right of all people in our country to express themselves.
If America is the land of the free (and I recognize that some people might disagree with this concept), then we citizens have the privilege of expressing ourselves and expecting a high degree of freedom to live out our lives. I happen to believe that's why our veterans have paid such a high price protecting us.
Thinking about the power of a single vote, I did the normal thing and googled the question. I was amazed. Did you know that in 1800, Thomas Jefferson was elected president by one vote in the House of Representatives after a tie in the Electoral College? In 1824, Andrew Jackson won the presidential popular vote but lost by one vote in the House of Representatives to John Quincy Adams after an Electoral College deadlock. In 1845, the U.S. Senate passed the convention annexing Texas by two votes.
In 1867, the Alaska purchase was ratified in the Senate by two votes, paving the way to a future statehood. In 1977, governors of Maine, Rhode Island, and North Dakota were elected by an average of one vote per precinct. In 1997, Dakota Democrat John McIntyre led Republican Hal Wick 4,195 to 4,191 for the second seat in Legislative District 12 on election night. A recount showed Wick the winner at 4,192 to 4,191.
Would you believe that according to a 2001 study of state and federal elections between 1898 and 1992, one of every 100,000 votes cast in U.S. elections, and one of every 15,000 votes cast in state elections, "mattered" in the sense that they were cast for a candidate that officially tied or won by one vote? Not too long ago, the presidential race had to be decided by the U. S. Supreme Court, because the vote was too close. Consider also how many members of the Supreme Court have recently been confirmed by very close votes.
My friend suggested that he was not going to vote because he did not like either of the candidates, and I understand his frustration; but I also understand that his no vote actually amounted to a vote for someone running for office. I also understand that he lost his ability to comment on the election, since he gave that up by not voting.
I'm well aware that our military and those who have served previously have paid a high price for our freedom, and I'm certainly going to praise them for their contributions; but I also know that there is another battle that is fought almost daily by us living in the United States: the battle to decide our country's future by voting to decide our future leaders. We must never forget that it is the "power of one" that gives us freedom and a good life.
• • •
Robert Box has been a law enforcement chaplain for 29 years. He is a master-level chaplain with the International Conference of Police Chaplains and is an endorsed chaplain with the American Baptist Churches USA. He also currently serves as a deputy sheriff chaplain for the Benton County Sheriff's Office. Opinions expressed in the article are the opinions of the author and not the agencies he serves.