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Why Millions Of Eligible Americans Don't Vote : 1A 1A listener George told us, "My vote doesn't really matter[...]Six states are getting virtually all of the attention and all of the campaign dollars are going to those states."

"There's this idea that people don't vote out of lethargy," says George. He thinks a majority of people don't vote because they feel left out of the process. Their voice and their presence doesn't matter.

What do you think?

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Why Millions Of Eligible Americans Don't Vote

Why Millions Of Eligible Americans Don't Vote

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Go vote? Almost 100 million eligible Americans didn't in 2016. Brett Carlsen/Brett Carlsen/Getty Images hide caption

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Brett Carlsen/Brett Carlsen/Getty Images

Go vote? Almost 100 million eligible Americans didn't in 2016.

Brett Carlsen/Brett Carlsen/Getty Images

For some, voting is seen as the bedrock of our democracy. People fought and died for the right to vote, and some are still fighting to protect that right to this day. You even get a sticker for showing up to the polls.

So why do nearly 100 million eligible Americans not vote?

A study published by the Knight Foundation found nonvoters are just as diverse and complicated as the rest of the country.

Colin Woodard, Bernard Fraga, and Kat Calvin joined us to talk about why so many people are choosing not to vote and what it means for our democracy.

We also talked with George, a 1A listener who was able to relay his personal experiences and complicated feelings around voting.

We're trying something new for our podcast description — click on the names of guests to find their titles. Like it? Don't like it? Have other thoughts on our podcast? Send us an email to 1A@wamu.org with the subject line "podcast."

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