This Tuesday, (May 8th) is the Indiana Primary in which candidates seek their party’s nomination to appear on the November ballot.  Some people wonder if their vote really matters.   Throughout our history there have been numerous examples of how one vote made a difference.  For example:

• In 1916, if presidential hopeful Charles E. Hughes had received one additional vote in each of California’s precincts, he would have defeated President Woodrow Wilson’s re-election bid.
• In the 1960 presidential election, an additional one vote per precinct in Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, and Texas may have altered the course of America’s history by placing Richard Nixon in the White House 8 years earlier, rather than John F. Kennedy.

The Indianapolis Star is predicting that the turnout on Tuesday will be light based upon early voting numbers, which are down by 40% from 2008. In one sense, low turnout means that you, who are informed and hold to traditional values can have a big influence representing a larger percentage of those who vote.

Interestingly, two weeks ago there were reports of a poll in eastern Indiana showing Don Bates, Travis Hankins and Luke Messer running neck and neck with an enormous 45% of GOP voters still undecided on who might be the best GOP nominee to follow Congressman Mike Pence.  There are always questions about who to vote for right up until the day of the Primary.  (AFA of Indiana does not have voter’s guides for Tuesday’s primary.  Indiana Right to Life has one you can view online here. Remember, too, that rather than stay home, you are allowed to vote on races in which you have made a decision and skip those on the ballot if you don’t know where they stand on values and issues.)