You couldn’t go anywhere on campus around this time last year without hearing that oft repeated anthem: “Hey! Are you registered to vote at your current address?” Get-out-the-vote activists were on every corner, flyers and stickers were posted on every available space and every other conversation was about the coming election. People groaned at the politicians’ latest mistakes, talked about how great they were in the previous night’s debate and waited in line for up to four hours on the first Tuesday in November in order to support one candidate or the other.

Last year’s election night was for some a triumph and for others a disappointment, but everyone agreed on one thing: History had been made. The atmosphere on campus for the whole month leading up to that Tuesday was more electric than I’ve seen in my whole life here in Ann Arbor.

Tuesday, Nov. 3 (which happens to be today), there will be another election. There are no national candidates, there is little drama and relatively few people on campus are working for and talking about the elections.

But it shouldn’t be this way.

Local elections are just as important as national ones. Your locally elected officials make huge decisions about your lives that are often undervalued. Zoning laws allow students to live in some places and not others. Local laws govern how leasing works and the types of contracts that can be drawn up. Local governments influence police policy, the municipal court system, Ann Arbor Transportation Authority buses — the list goes on and on.

This year’s local elections are no different. A contested City Council race will pit a pro-mayor candidate against a University student. There is also a millage (property tax) on the ballot that will define Ann Arbor’s education spending for the foreseeable future. These issues affect the lives of everyone who lives in Ann Arbor, students or otherwise.

Some people might claim that their votes don’t matter. That is completely, patently false. During the summer of 2008, I worked for a political candidate who ended up losing by eight votes. Elections, especially local ones, are decided by a tiny percentage of the electorate.

But there is a reason for voting that goes above and beyond the statistics. The reason is not the candidates, the issues or the fact that a single vote may make a difference. The reason is that voting is what defines us as a democracy.

The vast majority of people in the United States, including myself, believe in democracy as a theory and an ideal. We speak out against dictatorships and for freedom all across the world — and yet many people don’t realize what their belief in democracy means. The precise reason we have a democracy is because it gives every citizen a way to be heard in our society. If we hold these beliefs and make these claims about the power of democracy but do not participate in our own democratic government, then we are a nation of hypocrites, fighting for free elections all over the world and then not participating in our own back home. We are a nation of whiners, perpetually complaining about current conditions and the state of our lives but making no move to change them. We are a nation of the uninterested, more worried about what happens today than decisions that could affect us years in the future. But I believe that we are also a nation of the consistent — people firm enough in our beliefs that we can hold them strong. I believe that we are a nation of doers, knowing when to take action to change something wrong in the world. We are a nation of the concerned, speaking out loud about things that will affect both us and our children.

I believe in a nation where every citizen uses his or her own voice to bring up what they believe in, and where people participate because they know it is their obligation to apply their beliefs to the issues that affect them directly. I believe in a nation where we all vote.

Vote today Bring your MCard to the polls. Visit www.a2gov.org for more information on candidates and proposals.

Seth Buchsbaum is the vice chair of Voice Your Vote.