With the 2024 election around the corner, there is no shortage of organizations reminding you to vote. While this can start to feel redundant, there may never be a more important election than this year’s presidential election. 

For those of you reading this who are still on the fence about who you’re going to vote for, what more could you possibly need? 

There have never been two candidates so different from each other, and to say one is just as bad as the other is not only ignorant, it is objectively incorrect. 

One of these candidates is a convicted felon who has been held liable for rape, was sued for refusing to rent property to Black Americans, bought full page ads calling for the execution of the now exonerated Central Park Five  and doesn’t know what the Democratic Republic of the Congo is. 

The other candidate is Vice President Kamala Harris, whose political career dates back to 2002 when she ran a successful campaign to be the first female attorney general of California. Being the daughter of two immigrants, Harris worked her way up to where she is now, graduating from Howard University with a degree in political science and economics and going on to graduate from the University of California, Hastings College of Law. There, she was the president of the Black Law Students Association, graduating with a Juris Doctor in 1989. 

In an election, it is rare that you will agree with a politician on everything. By definition, democracy is about compromise. 

No, I do not agree with Harris’ stance on Israel and Palestine. In fact, I believe she is disgustingly wrong in her handling of the situation. I do not want to live in a country where having the “strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world” is the standard for well-being. 

In a perfect world, we would have a candidate that stands up to genocidal maniacs like Benjamin Netanyahu; however, as unfortunate as it is, Israel has too much power over the United States for this to happen.  

However, the alternative to Harris is a debilitating elderly man who should be enjoying retirement and his old age rather than having the highest position of power on the planet. In no world is a man like Donald Trump fit for the office of President of the United States of America. 

We must hold our leaders accountable for inhumane policies such as the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the crisis in Gaza, but at the same time, we must put things in perspective. 

To abstain from any election over one issue, especially this election, is nothing short of a travesty. By abstaining from this election, you’re not only diminishing the likelihood of Harris winning, but you are in fact benefitting the Trump campaign. 

According to Devurger’s law, in single member districts and the plurality system of voting which we in the United States live in, two parties tend to emerge, and the votes that go toward third parties can be regarded as “spoilers” in elections. 

I implore those of you who are considering abstaining from this election to reconsider, as this seemingly rebellious and revolutionary-minded act can and will have devastating effects on this country. 

Jackson Small is a columnist. Contact him at [email protected].