The 2024 presidential elections are around the corner. The current President of the United States Joe Biden is running for the democratic party, and the former president Donald Trump, America’s 45th president is running for the Republican Party. Why does your vote matter? It is because the fate of the United States for the next four years is decided by you, the people. Some people don’t vote at all. In fact, if you find something you like about one of the candidates, go ahead and cast your vote, and make sure to register to vote in your state.

When you turn 18 you can vote

Adulthood is all about new opportunities, and the legal age when you become an adult is 18 years. When you’re 18 you can vote, so if you turn 18 this year before the election and polls open, make sure to vote. “In 2024, I turn 18 and I plan on voting for the primary election between the Republican and democratic parties. I feel like voting is very important because everyone has a voice and they can express their concerns and opinions through voting” said Jaden Torres, a Coral Glades senior, and a soon to be adult. “People who decided not to vote shouldn’t really have much to say since they didn’t want to participate in the voting.” 

National Geographic Society Says: A recent study by the National Geographic Society, in an article titled ‘Why voting is Important’ “If you ever think that just one vote in a sea of millions cannot make much of a difference, consider some of the closest elections in U.S. history.” In 2000 Al Gore lost the electoral college vote to George W. Bush, the election came to a recount in Florida, where Bush won by 0.009 % of the votes, or 537 total votes. Your vote matters! When Trump won the election in 2016 against Hillary Clinton, the ‘swing states’ in particular were very close, but in the end Trump had key voters in certain districts in some of these swing states such as Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, which helped seal the deal, and Trump won the election.