If you haven’t already, please vote. It is the one responsibility of all citizens. If you don’t vote you can’t complain about what the government is or isn’t doing. If you don’t vote you have abrogated your rights to others. If you don’t vote your interests are not being heard by the politicians who are elected.
If you do vote you send a message to the government about what you think is important and the direction the nation should take in the next two year. If you do vote you will have done your duty as a citizen. If you do vote you will decrease the chance of the U.S. becoming a one-party state, unless, of course, you’re part of the one-party movement.
If you do vote you have the right to criticize those who are elected. If you do vote you will have informed yourself of the politics and policies of all the candidates and their parties.
There is no more important duty as a citizen than to exercise your right to vote. It is a privilege many in the world would be willing to die for and you already have it. But if you don’t use it, you just might lose it.
I agree with most of what you have written. I don’t agree with your sentiment that “If you don’t vote you can’t complain about what the government is or isn’t doing.” Maybe you ought not complain, but everyone has a right to complain (or applaud) government actions/inactions whether they vote or don’t. Also, voting does not necessarily “send a message to government about what you think is important….” There are times when all the candidates running for an office are unpalatable to us and we vote for the least bad choice. That’s really a poor way to send a message.
I strongly support efforts to make it easier for folks to register to vote and to improve access to voting. That doesn’t mean that I think everyone should vote, especially those who are poorly informed of the issues at hand or the competence of the candidates to manage those issues. To those folks, I say it is their civic duty to NOT vote.