Last November, Issue One passed by 56.78% of the vote. The one thing that percentages cover up though, is just how many individuals actually voted. It was just over 2.2 million who voted yes, and just over 3.9 million people who voted in total. That’s less than 50% of all Ohioans who were registered to vote that year.
It highlights the troubles originating from political apathy. The sensation that an individual’s vote doesn’t actually hold any weight. After all, if so many people are going to vote, what difference does just one make? Well, depending on the issue, it can change the turnout between yes and no. “I think that people shouldn’t just stay [home] and not vote because it honestly matters that you do vote,” senior Emma Kranhouse said. “It’s important that people actually do go out and vote, despite any apathy.”
A prime example of needing to avoid apathy is from the 2000 election between Al Gore and George W. Bush. The question of who would end up winning Florida, and subsequently the election, seemed near impossible to actually call. Both were polling at 48% of the popular vote. Even the tiniest margin could flip the state Republican, or Democratic.
The vote was so contentious and so close, that it ended up having to be elevated to the Supreme Court of the United States. It was only by courtroom decision that Florida and the election went to Bush. The difference between the two? 537 votes.
An even closer example is the 1974 New Hampshire election. In a race between Republican Louis Wyman and Democrat John Durkin. The initial margin of victory for Wyman was only 355 votes. With such a small difference, Durkin requested a recount. It brought the total difference between them down to just ten, but flipped the results in favor of Durkin. This then led to Wyman requesting a recount as well, which flipped the results again, this time by just two votes. The final count was 110,926 to 110,924.
It was the closest US election of the 20th century and it led to a special election being held just a year later, which would again flip the results to Durkin. This time by a more comfortable margin of over 27,000 votes.
Even as recent as 2020, vital races have ended up surprisingly close. In 2020, the election for Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District came down to just six votes. The same year, the vote for North Carolina’s Chief Justice came down to only 401 people. In 2022, the Connecticut House of Representatives 81st District came down to just a single person.
Beth Lear, 61st District Representative, said that she hopes young voters understand the impact their participation will have in the future.
“You’re going to be the next generation that’s going to be making these decisions, we want you to keep all of your rights, all of your freedoms,” Lear said in a Talisman interview. “The only way to do that is to make sure the things that you’re voting on and the people you’re electing are people who care about freedom, people who wanna keep the Republic intact.”
At a recent campaign event in Dayton intended to drive up voter turnout, Senator Sherrod Brown said, “Don’t ever underplay your importance and your significance [in the election].”
All this to say: Every vote matters. Even a single person can entirely change who represents millions of peoples for years to follow.
