The Power of Just One Vote

One lesson Americans learn as schoolchildren is that every vote is precious. It is a lesson Americans also easily forget. Despite the striking evidence of how much each vote does indeed count--John F. Kennedy won the presidency by a margin of .2% of the votes cast in 1960, and Richard Nixon by .7% in 1968--tens of millions of Americans still stay away from the polls. An estimated 38% of the eligible voters cast ballots in the election last November.

Running in that election for one of New Hampshire's seats in the U.S. Senate, Republican Congressman Louis C. Wyman at first appeared to have defeated Democrat John A. Durkin by 542 votes out of 236,140 cast. A re-count requested by Durkin pronounced him the winner by ten, and he jokingly began calling himself "Landslide." Then Wyman asked for a review and that put him on top by two, making the vote the closest for the Senate since the 17th Amendment in 1913 established the popular election of candidates.

The situation remains as fluid as ever. Durkin has petitioned the U.S. Senate to review the contested ballots. Wyman has requested that the state's courts call a new election. What is more, Republican Governor Meldrim Thomson Jr. has asked the legislature to schedule an election on Feb. 18.

All of this confusion could have been avoided if more New Hampshire citizens, on one side or the other, had realized the value of their votes. Only 49% of the state's eligible voters bothered to go to the polls on Nov. 5.

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