One of the most precious things to a citizen in the United States is his or her right to vote. Many battles have been fought over the years to give every citizen the right to vote. So, why do so many of today’s citizens—especially the youth—not vote? They say it is because their voices do not matter over those of the older generations and corrupt corporations, but that is not the case. As long as voting is happening, changes are happening, and that is what nonvoters need to realize.

In a survey conducted in 2016 by P.R.R.I., 57% of Americans said that “politics and elections are controlled by people with money and by big corporations” as well as 66% of millenials agreeing because they distrust major corporations. This fear seems very likely given that most of the wealth is held by major corporations, who could in turn corrupt our politicians.

Jason Bell, a writer for the Mission Podcasts, has said that with the huge number of votes coming from Americans, one person’s vote does not make a huge difference. While this does logically make sense, when it comes time for elections, less than 20% of the population shows up, according to votergy.org. So, if there is actually a lower number of votes, it can hardly be said that your vote doesn’t matter because each vote will hold more weight. However, every vote matters in order for a proper consensus to be given on the nation’s stance on policies, and who they want voting on those policies in office.

If the majority shows that they dislike something, politicians cannot do anything about it unless America’s constituents make that dislike known through voting. Many people also do not vote in the polls that involve the talk of policies, which is also why politicians that are heavily liked may make a decision that goes against what their voters like.

It is also very odd that people believe that their votes don’t matter when throughout history so much has been done to oppress people’s rights to vote, starting with African-Americans who fought for over a century to truly exercise their right to vote, then women, who were constantly viewed as uneducated and unable to make a proper political decision, then immigrants throughout America’s history, who came over here for work and were then denied citizenship and the right to vote. If all of these people’s votes didn’t matter, why did so much fighting have to be done for them to vote? So, it is important to exercise this hard fought right to vote.

The fear of big corporations stems from all the years of fighting to vote because originally they did control most of the vote—especially during industrialization when Carnegie and Rockefeller put tons of money into McKinley’s campaign. That is not the case now, though, because the average person, young or old, can go vote and stomp out the sway that big corporations hold. Even though corporations are the largest backer for campaigns, the politicians still have to make decisions based on the votes of the people. Otherwise, they won’t get voted back into office no matter how much money is put into their campaign.

As a citizen of the United States, it is important to exercise the right to vote because that vote helps to shape everyone’s future. If more people voted, then policies and politicians would be forced to change, because the idea behind democracy is to have the masses decide the fate of their own lives.