Election Day 2026 is just around the corner.

For both Republicans and Democrats, this midterm is crucial. If Republicans can maintain control of the House and the Senate, the Trump presidency has two more years to make good on some of its promises to the American people. If the Democrats win, that same administration will not only be a lame duck presidency, but a dead duck.

Moreover, the midterms are bringing other important issues to the voters beside the elections of various officials. In Alabama, citizens going to the polls have the opportunity to weigh in on proposed amendments to the state’s constitution regarding school-related issues, like voluntary prayer and a weekly playing of the national anthem.

Virginians, to take another instance, will be voting on an amendment making legalized abortion part of the state’s constitution, with some iffy language about whether it might include full-term abortions, and another defining marriage as between any two persons as legal, with repercussions affecting family relationships, foster care, and adoptions. These proposals have raised both the eyebrows and the ire of conservatives, though they face an uphill battle against the heavily blue areas of Northern Virginia and the larger cities.

Doubtless tens of millions of Americans around the country will vote in these upcoming elections of officials both local and national, and in the amendments and other matters that may appear on the ballots. Just as certain as well, as is the inevitable case in midterm contests when less than half of our country’s adult citizens vote, tens of millions will either forget about the election, ignore it, or shrug it off with the words, “My vote wouldn’t make a difference anyway.”

That indifference or contempt with which we regard our own vote is a horrible reflection on the understanding of our rights as Americans and of our regard for our Republic. Whether we’re voting for the president of the United States or for the mayor of our small town, that vote is what gives us a voice, a say-so, however minute, in the way we wish to lead our lives.

It’s an attitude we need to rethink for the good of our nation.

We should, for example, regard voting as a duty. It’s a service we owe our country, those who came before us, and those who will come after.

Many of us fly the flag from our porches, chant USA at international sports events, and teach our children the rudiments of patriotism, yet we sit out Election Day at home. Casting a ballot is a small obligation we should shoulder with pride and gratitude.

We should also view voting as a precious right, and like all rights, one which comes with responsibilities. When we step inside a curtained booth to cast a vote, responsibility should oblige us to know something about the candidates and causes for which we’re voting. Given the access we have to such information online, that old, hackneyed excuse, “My granddaddy and my daddy voted Democrat (or Republican), and I do too,” should be retired. It’s true that sometimes, when we don’t know enough about the candidates, the wise choice is to vote by party – I’ve done this myself – but that ignorance shows a lack of engagement in the governance of the country.

Finally, having voted for a candidate or a cause allows us to look in the mirror afterwards with a clear conscience. However an election turns out, we have the satisfaction – and when things don’t go our way, the consolation – of knowing that we have put our beliefs into action, that we stepped up, played our part, and attempted to better our communities and our country.

Enough said. It’s an off year, yes, in these midterm elections, but don’t let that or any other excuse short of some emergency deter you from voting this year.

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This article was made possible by The Fred & Rheta Skelton Center for Cultural Renewal. 

Image credit: Unsplash