Start.

As an individual born to an African-American father and a mother of Mormon upbringing, I feel surprisingly underrepresented in this Presidential election. What’s more shocking, however, is the prevalence of this underrepresentation among voters in our democracy. In a November 2, 2012 Gallup poll, only fifty percent of United States voters stated that they feel either Barack Obama or Mitt Romney shares their ideological view. So, regardless of Tuesday’s election results, we will spend the next four years as citizens of a democracy which hardly represents us. While this is not a new phenomenon in the United States, it is something we desperately need to overcome.

On the eve of this election, ask yourself whether you feel that either President Obama or Mitt Romney is truly the best representative of your political views. If the answer is “yes”, great! For the other fifty percent of you: What are we going to do about this?  Personally, I am not prepared to spend the rest of my life as an American citizen choosing between candidates who represent only half of my people. Now is not the time to vote and forget about political candidates for the next two or four years.  If we’re ever going to have the option of electing candidates who actually represent us, the work is only beginning.

I’m going to take it upon myself to spend the next four years searching for potential candidates who actually represent my views. I am going to remind myself, often, how it feels to participate in a democracy that I have lost faith in. I will demand to be represented next time.  My friends, neighbors, teachers and fellow students: I beg you to do the same. I believe our freedom truly depends on it.