Voting is a very important right, one that soldiers and civilians alike have fought and died for.

However, shaming people for not voting should not be okay.

There are six amendments to the Constitution dealing directly with voting, the 15^th and 19^th, which are the most notable due to the civil rights and suffragette movements.

However, the United States is a democracy, and just because everyone has the right to vote doesn’t mean they should be forced to vote.

For example, in a presidential election someone may not like either of the two major candidates. Someone might not like any of the candidates, but even if they like a candidate who is not a member of one of the major parties, the candidate will not be elected.

There is a lot of tension between progressive Democrats and conservative Republicans, forcing moderates to pick a side since all issues have become polarized in some way or another.

So independent party people have three options — either vote for a Democrat or Republican who they do not fully agree with, vote for another candidate who is destined to lose, or not waste time on causes they do not care about or that are destined to fail.

Shaming people for not voting in a system destined to keep them from being represented by a candidate they agree with is simply shaming someone for not contributing to a political climate they have no control over.

21kboyle@usd489.com