To the Editor:
I have been encountering far too many people on the Island who tell me they don’t plan to vote in November elections. Many say, “My vote doesn’t matter; it’s a waste of time.”
I also heard about an East Providence woman who said on NPR, “I feel like my voice doesn’t matter. People who suck are still in office, so it won’t make a difference.”
Well, I went on the internet and found many cases throughout American history where one or just a few votes determined the outcome of elections. Here are some of those cases:
- In 1876, one electoral college vote gave Rutherford B. Hayes the presidency, and the Indiana congressman who cast that vote won his own seat by one vote.
- In 1920, women won the right to vote when Tennessee ratified the 19th Amendment to the Constitution by one vote.
- In 1960, John F. Kennedy collected 27 electoral college votes in Illinois by eking out wins in several key precincts.
- In 1994, a Wyoming state representative race ended in a 1,941-1,941 tie. The deadlock was broken on NBC’s “Today” show when the winning Ping-Pong ball was pulled out of a hat.
- In 2016, another House seat, this time in Vermont, was decided by one vote out of 2,000 cast. Six years earlier, the same two candidates had finished one vote apart, in reverse order.
The 2020 November election, especially for president, will carry tremendous significance for the future of America. When it comes to voting, each of us is “one,” and in “one” there is power. Please exercise your right to vote … You can make a difference.
Carrie Camillo Tankard
Oak Bluffs