天美视频

Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2024

About the Author

Beth Fukumoto

Beth Fukumoto served three terms in the Hawai驶i House of Representatives. She was the youngest woman in the U.S. to lead a major party in a legislature, the first elected Republican to switch parties after Donald Trump鈥檚 election, and a Democratic congressional candidate. Currently, she works as a political commentator and teaches leadership and ethics at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Opinions are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Civil Beat’s views. You can reach her by email at bfukumoto@civilbeat.org.

Your voice is part of something larger than any single election.

Over the last few weeks, I traveled through Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin with writers and academics who study autocracies, fascism and the collapse of democracy. Their work is dark, made darker by today鈥檚 U.S. political climate.

Coming from Hawaii, where mainland-style politics often feel like a distant spectacle, it鈥檚 easy to feel disconnected from these discussions. In our deep-blue state, with elections that are rarely competitive, it can feel like our votes are symbolic at best. But that symbolism is more powerful 鈥 and consequential 鈥 than we often give it credit for, as my mother sternly reminded me.

Our lack of competitive elections makes it worse, dulling our collective political engagement. Even in Pennsylvania, surrounded by campaign workers knocking on thousands of doors every hour in this dead-heat presidential race, I almost didn’t cast my vote. It took a scolding from my mother to make me rush my ballot home in time for her to drop it off.

I spent weeks trying to persuade voters in swing states to understand the consequences of Tuesday鈥檚 election. So, when my ballot arrived late to a hotel in York, Pennsylvania, I wasn鈥檛 sure it was worth driving two hours from Philadelphia to pick it up. In the midst of reminding people that this was the most consequential election in recent memory, the world鈥檚 focus on the Rust Belt left me questioning whether my time would be better spent talking to more voters in Pennsylvania than collecting and expressing my ballot back to our deep-blue state.

I know many other Hawaii voters think the same. Is it worth standing in line, rushing home in traffic, or taking off work? Your afternoon is busy shuttling kids back and forth from soccer practice, figuring out dinner while speed-walking through Costco, or checking in on your parents. If you don’t show up at the polls, Hawaii’s electoral votes will almost certainly go to Harris anyway.

It鈥檚 no wonder we feel that way. Watching election night coverage on CNN, I was furious when Jake Tapper flippantly called Hawaii鈥檚 votes the moment our polls closed, long before any votes had been counted. It was dismissive 鈥 a foregone conclusion based shortsightedly on Hawaii鈥檚 past voting history.

Voters in early voting at Honolulu Hale on King Street in Honolulu were met with torrential downpours as they drove through the election only lane that had been set aside and coned to allow drivers to either hand off their ballots to Poll workers or drop them into several Ballot boxes placed and manned along King Street. (David Croxford/Civil Beat/2024)
On Election Day, voters in early voting at Honolulu Hale on King Street braved torrential downpours to go inside and cast their ballots. Win or lose, the sheer act of voting tells us democracy is worth the effort. (David Croxford/Civil Beat/2024)

As my Civil Beat colleague Richard Wiens pointed out, Hawaii鈥檚 electoral votes have played a decisive role in the past. In those critical moments, Hawaii鈥檚 engagement didn鈥檛 just make a difference 鈥 it proved that even states considered 鈥渟afe鈥 or 鈥渟mall鈥 in the Electoral College can have an outsized impact when the nation needs it most.

Hawaii has more votes than Alaska, Delaware, District of Columbia, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming. We have an equal number to Idaho, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and West Virginia. Nebraska and New Mexico only have one more vote than we do.

But as both my mom and the election results reminded me, our value on the electoral vote map isn鈥檛 really the point either.

After the results are tallied, our vote remains a reflection of our commitment to democracy 鈥 win or lose. When we show up, even in so-called “safe” states, we signal to those who doubt the system that we鈥檙e still paying attention, that we still care. When we don鈥檛, we risk giving anti-democratic forces the opening they need to erode our freedoms further.

Illustration of Hawaii capitol with sun shining in the sky
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As scholars often remind us, democracy doesn鈥檛 collapse overnight 鈥 it erodes when people stop showing up. Fatigue and apathy are tools that authoritarian leaders exploit. By staying home, we unintentionally validate the idea that our democracy can run on autopilot, that others will take care of it for us.

But democracy is not self-sustaining.

So if you voted, thank you. Thank you for standing in line. Thank you for mailing your ballot. Thank you for staying engaged. As a candidate, I was grateful for every single vote, especially when I lost.

If you didn鈥檛 vote, let this moment be a reminder that your voice is part of something larger than any single election. The total number of votes a candidate receives sends a powerful message 鈥 to current leaders, to future candidates, and even to ourselves 鈥 that democracy is worth the effort. It鈥檚 an act of hope, one that ensures we don鈥檛 take our freedoms for granted.

Because when history looks back, it鈥檚 not just the electoral results that will matter. It鈥檚 whether the people, even in the face of exhaustion and doubt, continued to show up. Two years from now, we鈥檒l have another chance.


Read this next:

Gabbard鈥檚 Past Could Complicate US Senate Confirmation


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About the Author

Beth Fukumoto

Beth Fukumoto served three terms in the Hawai驶i House of Representatives. She was the youngest woman in the U.S. to lead a major party in a legislature, the first elected Republican to switch parties after Donald Trump鈥檚 election, and a Democratic congressional candidate. Currently, she works as a political commentator and teaches leadership and ethics at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Opinions are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Civil Beat’s views. You can reach her by email at bfukumoto@civilbeat.org.


Latest Comments (0)

I芒聙聶m still not 冒聼聮炉 convinced that my federal presidential vote really counts all that much because of the electoral college way of counting votes. Hawaii gets 4 electoral votes and certainly, one day, Hawaiis 4 votes may make or break an election but not usually.

MauiAloha · 2 months ago

"The total number of votes a candidate receives sends a powerful message 芒聙聰 to current leaders, to future candidates, and even to ourselves" Sure does. And the people spoke loudly on this election. They had enough.

SillyState · 2 months ago

"I spent weeks trying to persuade voters in swing states to understand the consequences of Tuesday芒聙聶s election....this was the most consequential election in recent memory, the world芒聙聶s focus on the Rust Belt.....we risk giving anti-democratic forces the opening they need to erode our freedoms further....democracy doesn芒聙聶t collapse overnight 芒聙聰 it erodes when people stop showing up"In Beth Fukumoto's essay she failed to meditate on the fact that this election was a fantastic example in the exercise of Democracy with a big turn out and a definitive result expressing the will of the people.Why wasn't she thrilled, it's almost giving anti-democratic forces a voice that she failed to see this as a grand demonstration of the electoral process that so many of us participated in?

Joseppi · 2 months ago

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