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Show SPECIAL WASHINGTON REPORT I r Your Vote Is important By U.S. Rep. Frank Thompson, Jr. (D-N. J.) Co-chairman of National Voters Registration Committee ll i " 1 ; rrr-rarrrl Every American has a stake in registration, U i fr our system is based upon the belief that ail lr ' " ? ' citizens should have a voice in the conduct of : 4 V ' society's affairs. ' Participation in the voting process is the : 'jyA touchstone of our democracy, and registration ; is the necessary prerequisite to such participa- i YS tion ! ' X Sk 7 " e maior emphasis of the National Voters j Registration Committee will be to reach the j i i J 37 million Americans who did not vote in the , frank Thompson, jr. 1960 Presidential election and another 20 mil- ilion who have moved or have . come of voting age since No-1 No-1 vember of 1960. i We hope to achieve this objective ob-jective through active cooperation coopera-tion with such good citizenship groups as the League of Women j Voters, the American Heritage I Foundation and other non-parti-! san civic and public service organizations. or-ganizations. Registration and voting is the serious concern of 1 ; every American of voting age. i APATHY MUST BE OVERCOME The apathy of the American people in failing to register and to exercise their right to vote constitutes a blur on our image to the rest of the world. This apathy must be overcome. In this most crucial period in our history your vote influences influ-ences how people in other lands look upon our form of government. govern-ment. If the total vote is light, we show our neighbors that we are not as concerned about democracy de-mocracy as we say we are. On the other hand, a large turnout at the polls demonstrates our common unity and strength, a genuine deterrent to an aggressor, aggres-sor, and a real contribution to peace in the world. ONE VOTE-YOUR VOTE IS IMPORTANT I low important is just one vote your vote?( Here are a fi-w concrete examples of the importance of one vote: I ; ; I The Presidential race between Thomas E. Dewey and Harry S. Truman would have been thrown into the House of Representatives Rep-resentatives but for approximately approxi-mately one vote per precinct in two states. Ohio was lost to the Republicans by 7,107 votes in 9,247 precincts. President Tru- j man carried California by 17,-865 17,-865 votes in 16,802 precincts. Sen. Quentin Burdick, Democrat, Dem-ocrat, won over his Republican opponent in North Dakota by less than one vote in every other precinct. The Governorship of New York was won by W. Averell Harriman by only 11,123 votes. His margin was only slightly , more than one vote per election district of 10,362 voters. j Sen. Clifford Case, Republi- can of New Jersey, was elected by a margin of less than one vote per precinct (3,370 votes in 3,992 precincts). Such examples give any citizen citi-zen something to think about, if in the past he said to himself "Why vote? One vote won't make any difference." Remember that your vote can elect the candidate of your choice if you go to the polls, j and if you don't it can elect his opponent. To demonstrate your faith in j democracy, and to keep it alive and working, you must make , certain that you are registered j and then vote on election day. j |