I learned many years ago that voting 
was one of the responsibilities I had as a citizen. But it was not until I started doing research for this article that I began to fully appreciate that voting was more than just a responsibility. It was a right that allowed me to exercise my power of choice in determining who I believed would best represent my values and interests in government, who would act in the best interest of the country, and who would ensure that the natural rights and Constitutional rights guaranteed to me as an American were, in fact, upheld.
We live in a country based on the principle that each of us have certain rights that cannot be taken away, such as your right to Life, to Liberty and to the pursuit of Happiness. These are the rights you have simply by being you.
In order to safeguard these rights, as Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence, “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their powers from the consent of the governed“, a concept derived from the political theory of English philosopher John Locke (1632-1704) as expressed in one of his 
most famous works, “Two Treatises of Government.” Jefferson considered Locke to be among the “greatest men that ever lived.”
In this essay, Locke discusses many of the fundamental concepts that form the basis of his political philosophy including:
- That men by nature are free and equal.
- That citizens had certain natural and inalienable rights such as the right to life, liberty and property.
- That legitimate political government was the result of a social contract where people in the state of nature conditionally transfer some of their rights to the government in order to better ensure the stable, comfortable enjoyment of their lives, liberty, and property.
- That since governments exist by the consent of the people in order to protect the rights of the people and promote the public good, governments that fail to do so can be resisted and replaced with new governments.
As you may have noticed, each of these principles can be found in the Declaration of Independence written by Jefferson in 1776.
“No Taxation Without Representation”
One of the contributing factors leading up to the American Revolution in 1775 was the British Parliament’s imposition of taxes on certain goods imported into the colonies. Each individual colony had already elected their own representatives and had a system of taxation in place. While the colonists were factually still British subjects, they maintained that the taxes violated their rights as Englishman to be taxed by a parliament in which they were not represented.
The rallying cry of these protests was “No taxation without representation.” 
When the British Parliament enacted yet another such tax law, the Tea Act of 1773, the most famous of these protests would occur and forever be known as the “Boston Tea Party.”
So strong was this conviction of elected representation, it was included as one of the colonists’ grievances against the King in the Declaration of Independence, specifically “He [King George III] has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their [Parliament’s] Acts of pretended Legislation: … For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent.”
Become an Informed Voter
The colonists won this hard-fought war thus solidifying their independence and the right to self-governance. We can keep that dream alive by first and foremost becoming an “informed voter.”
This is accomplished by ignoring any name-calling, character attacks and other such non-productive “noise” and investing the time necessary to find out for yourself where each candidate stands on the issues that most concern you, your family, your community and the country.
Topics such as past job performance, successes and failures, voting records, legislation they have supported and opposed, groups they belong to or protested against, contributions and acts of kindness they have made to improving the lives and welfare of others are just some of the areas that can help you decide if that candidate is aligned with you and your values or not. Most importantly, it will help you determine if they will safeguard and advance the rights of all Americans to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.