Over the last few weeks, I traveled through Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin with writers and academics who study autocracies, fascism and the collapse of democracy. Their work is dark, made darker by today’s U.S. political climate.

Coming from Hawaii, where mainland-style politics often feel like a distant spectacle, it’s easy to feel disconnected from these discussions. In our deep-blue state, with elections that are rarely competitive, it can feel like our votes are symbolic at best. But that symbolism is more powerful — and consequential — than we often give it credit for, as my mother sternly reminded me.

Our lack of competitive elections makes it worse, dulling our collective political engagement. Even in Pennsylvania, surrounded by campaign workers knocking on thousands of doors every hour in this dead-heat presidential race, I almost didn’t cast my vote. It took a scolding from my mother to make me rush my ballot home in time for her to drop it off.

I spent weeks trying to persuade voters in swing states to understand the consequences of Tuesday’s election. So, when my ballot arrived late to a hotel in York, Pennsylvania, I wasn’t sure it was worth driving two hours from Philadelphia to pick it up. In the midst of reminding people that this was the most consequential election in recent memory, the world’s focus on the Rust Belt left me questioning whether my time would be better spent talking to more voters in Pennsylvania than collecting and expressing my ballot back to our deep-blue state.

I know many other Hawaii voters think the same. Is it worth standing in line, rushing home in traffic, or taking off work? Your afternoon is busy shuttling kids back and forth from soccer practice, figuring out dinner while speed-walking through Costco, or checking in on your parents. If you don’t show up at the polls, Hawaii’s electoral votes will almost certainly go to Harris anyway.

It’s no wonder we feel that way. Watching election night coverage on CNN, I was furious when Jake Tapper flippantly called Hawaii’s votes the moment our polls closed, long before any votes had been counted. It was dismissive — a foregone conclusion based shortsightedly on Hawaii’s past voting history.

As my Civil Beat colleague Richard Wiens pointed out, Hawaii’s electoral votes have played a decisive role in the past. In those critical moments, Hawaii’s engagement didn’t just make a difference — it proved that even states considered “safe” or “small” in the Electoral College can have an outsized impact when the nation needs it most.

Hawaii has more votes than Alaska, Delaware, District of Columbia, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming. We have an equal number to Idaho, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and West Virginia. Nebraska and New Mexico only have one more vote than we do.

But as both my mom and the election results reminded me, our value on the electoral vote map isn’t really the point either.

After the results are tallied, our vote remains a reflection of our commitment to democracy – win or lose. When we show up, even in so-called “safe” states, we signal to those who doubt the system that we’re still paying attention, that we still care. When we don’t, we risk giving anti-democratic forces the opening they need to erode our freedoms further.

A Special Commentary Project

Civil Beat opinion writers are closely following efforts to bring more transparency and accountability to state and local government — at the Legislature, the county level and in the media. Help us by sending ideas and anecdotes to sunshine@civilbeat.org.

Read More

As scholars often remind us, democracy doesn’t collapse overnight — it erodes when people stop showing up. Fatigue and apathy are tools that authoritarian leaders exploit. By staying home, we unintentionally validate the idea that our democracy can run on autopilot, that others will take care of it for us.

But democracy is not self-sustaining.

So if you voted, thank you. Thank you for standing in line. Thank you for mailing your ballot. Thank you for staying engaged. As a candidate, I was grateful for every single vote, especially when I lost.

If you didn’t vote, let this moment be a reminder that your voice is part of something larger than any single election. The total number of votes a candidate receives sends a powerful message — to current leaders, to future candidates, and even to ourselves — that democracy is worth the effort. It’s an act of hope, one that ensures we don’t take our freedoms for granted.

Because when history looks back, it’s not just the electoral results that will matter. It’s whether the people, even in the face of exhaustion and doubt, continued to show up. Two years from now, we’ll have another chance.