“Democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others.” – Winston Churchill

It is a bit strange writing a column on a presidential election before knowing the results.

As you are glancing over this article, beloved reader, you have a mountain of information to which I do not have access since I am stuck here in the past. You might know the winner already. At the least, you probably know which states are too close to call as well as, perhaps, where there will be recounts and legal challenges.

I do not know whom the winner will be. I have a hunch, but I would not bet the farm on it – my farm, your farm or even your farm’s old, broken-down mule.

In fact, I would cast a wary eye toward everyone who said they knew it all along. They probably flipped coins, asked their Magic 8 Balls or rolled a planchette around their Ouija boards a few times.

Whatever the result, some of you will be thrilled and others disappointed.

So why do we subject ourselves to going through the process of voting time after time? Obviously, it is to elect people to represent us in government, but there is more to it than that.

There are several psychological motives for people to vote. A 2020 article by Valentina Bali, Lindon Robison and Richard Winder summarizes well five main political science theories about why people vote.

The first is some vote to benefit their personal welfare, particularly economically, and sometimes even at a detriment to the country’s general welfare. The second is a sense of personal duty where a voter may have an internal belief that voting is a sacred responsibility and receives internal validation by voting.

The third is a person might vote for altruistic reasons to provide benefits to others about whom the voter cares. Fourth, some people vote to have a sense of belonging and to be connected to people, social causes and groups like political parties.

Fifth and finally, some vote mainly to receive validation and approval from others. This group feels satisfaction being seen voting or wants to avoid embarrassment from having to admit not voting.

On the other hand, not voting easily can be justified due to the costs of time and attention that can go into casting a ballot and the fact your vote is not likely to be the deciding factor in nearly any election.

Looking at voting from an individual point of view, voting can be considered irrational given the costs of voting versus any tangible benefits you will personally receive.

The paradox here becomes if most people act rationally and choose not to vote, the less healthy of a democracy we have, likely leading to a lower quality of life for most people in the long run. As citizens lose interest in maintaining democracy by participating in it, people also tend to lose trust government listens to them and can mitigate society’s problems.

You must exercise the right to vote or risk losing our system of government to a version where the minority of people who are engaged in government can solely decide what is best for the vast majority of people.

If there is a lack of consequences to ignoring the will of the people, those in government will take most of the benefits government can offer for themselves.

So whatever your personal motivation for voting is, it is probably better than choosing not to vote.

If some, most or all of your candidates did not win on Tuesday, you at least demonstrated your belief in our system of government. Even with its flaws, I do not know of a superior option to American government. I do know, however, many inferior options.

My first column for the Leader back in January stated, “Let me tell you, whoever ends up in the White House will not cause the collapse of civilization even if it is a candidate you do not support.”

I still believe this. If our new president, whoever it is, performs poorly in the role, we still have the ability to change direction at the ballot box as long as we continue to exercise that ability election after election.

Our government has held together for 235 years which includes times even more perilous than the current era. If your candidate won, maybe show a little grace to anyone on the other side. If your candidate lost, there will be great temptation to refuse to accept the results. Resist that temptation. Our election system is not flawless, but like Churchill’s description of democracy, it is better than any other system out there.