This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

"People often say that, in a democracy, decisions are made by a majority of the people. Of course, that is not true. Decisions are made by a majority of those who make themselves heard and who vote — a very different thing" — Walter Henry Judd (1898 - 1994), 10-term U.S. congressman from Minnesota.

Walter Henry Judd's trenchant statement is often cited as the most compelling practical reason to exercise the franchise given to us in the Constitution to choose the people who will represent us at all levels of government.

Judd's logic is unassailable: We either choose to vote, or decisions having a profound impact on our daily lives will be made by politicians put in office by voters who may or may not share our views.

By voters who reject the notion that their single ballot will make no difference in the outcome.

By voters who place a trip to the polls at the top of their to-do list for the first Tuesday in November.

By voters who take an interest in public affairs and, if they don't like what they see, act in the most direct way available to them to throw the bums out. Some anonymous wag put it even more bluntly: "Politicians are like diapers. They both need changing regularly and for the same reason."

We do not claim that all voters fit the category of informed citizen. "The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter," Winston Churchill tartly observed. We don't agree, but what of those, for example, who vote a straight party ticket, as if morality, integrity and fitness for office were defined by the words Republican or Democrat? Nevertheless, it is anyone's right to do so.

Most of us consider ourselves patriotic to some degree. This is never more evident than when, in times of war, we band together determined to preserve our freedoms. The journalist Bill Vaughan saw beyond the red, white and blue fervor of those moments, though, to make a telling point: "A citizen of America will cross the ocean to fight for democracy, but won't cross the street to vote in a national election."

We urge all eligible Utahns to vote today (some 150,000 have, to their credit, already done so, either by early or absentee ballot). Some elections seem more important than others. Arguably, this is one of those, with control of Congress in the balance.

But that misses the central point that voting in a free and fair election is what originally set America apart from all other nations, and still defines the concept of freedom for the entire world.

So do it. Take part. Make a difference. Go vote.