In 1994, Republican Randall Luthi won a seat on the Wyoming House of Representatives after an election tied with 1,941 votes each. Luthi drew a ping-pong ball from a hat, was declared the winner, and became Wyoming Speaker of the House 11 years later.

The election of a state representative and the history of Wyoming could have completely flipped if just one more person in the district had cast a ballot.

In 2016, the United States is unquestionably facing the most polarized, unpredictable and ultimately unpopular presidential election in it’s history. After the revelation of Trump’s sexual assault comments, on top of the previous year and a half’s campaign ads, insults and debates about the size of candidates’ hands, the lines have been prominently drawn in the sand.

There’s no denying the significance of electing the leader of the free world. Either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton will reside in 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. for the next four years and make decisions that will affect millions of Americans almost daily. Every American, though, will be affected more so every single day by the typically ignored down-ballot races.

The primary instinct of an apathetic voter is to either not vote at all, or rather just vote for one of the two major party’s presidential candidates, and then vote for the candidates on the rest of the ballot that match that party. They vote Trump, McCrory, Burr, and keep going all the way down to the offices that they didn’t know existed, but thankfully have the almighty “Republican” written in bold by their name. The same can be said for liberals that see the names paired with “Democrat.”

The Commissioner of Insurance is important. Your elected county commissioners will make decisions that shape your district and future every time they hold a meeting. There is a sales tax referendum on the Wake County ballot. The North Carolina Supreme Court has a justice election, and that election will tip the court ideologically in either direction. While your one vote may not be the decision that puts either Trump or Clinton in the White House, your vote may just be the one that gives someone else on the ballot a victory.

You owe it to them to exercise your right to vote. If you still think that your vote doesn’t matter and choose not to exercise your right, then you have invalidated any credibility when criticizing any aspect of the government that represents you.

The argument that “my vote doesn’t matter” is a contorted and feckless lie. Saying that “it’s just a lesser of the two evils” is irrelevant, because a functioning society cannot continue to believe that one side isn’t more or less favorable than the other. It’s not about the party or the individual for whom you vote, but rather it’s simply the action of voting.

In just one week, the countless groups on campus will stop frisking you in the Brickyard and asking if you’re registered to vote. That’s because this Friday is the deadline to register in the state of North Carolina before the election. If you haven’t filled out the one sheet of paper required to cast a ballot, then the window hasn’t closed. There will be drives going on all week, and if you don’t register in time, you can register when you go to early vote (on campus in the Creative Services Center at 1220 Varsity Drive) provided that you can prove identification.

It was only 50 years ago when African-Americans were beaten senselessly to be kept from casting a ballot. Before the 1920’s, if you weren’t a man, then you weren’t entering an election booth. Of course, we’ve all heard the stories and realize what a terrible thing it was that those individuals and countless others weren’t able to exercise their right during those times, but we shouldn’t just brush off that history as events that happened. That history happened because politicians realized the power that voting has, and unjustly didn’t want to give certain groups that ability.

Vote because they couldn’t. Vote because you can.