The election in November holds a lot of impact with how the rest of the four years of the Trump presidency will be.

All the time protesting and basically acting a fool should have been spent instead of getting people registered to vote.

This is where the real action happens.

The vote is a powerful thing in our democratic voting system, and it is where actions count. Literally.

One of the things I have heard, over the years covering elections, is that a single vote doesn’t count.

However, there were some elections over the years that were decided by a handful of votes.

In the Mississippi State House of Representatives’ District 79 election in 2015, Incumbent Blaine Eaton tied with Republican candidate Mark Tullos, and won re-election by drawing the long straw.

Don’t believe me?

The New York Times wrote an entire story on Nov. 20, 2015. It may sound old-fashioned, but it was still how the tie-breaker was decided. However, Tullos asked the State House review the results, which they did, resulting in them throwing out some ballots for Eaton and seating Tullos. The vote was largely party-line vote. There were a total 4,589 winning votes cast in that election.

In 1980, the election for New Hampshire State Senate Republican Primary for District 16 saw only 2,438 winning votes cast.

Incumbent Frank Wageman found himself in a tied election after a hospitalization left him unable to vote in the election. Two numbered balls were placed in a black leather bottle, and the first one to roll out was the winner. Wageman’s ball came out first and challenger Eleanor P. Podles demanded a recount that did not change the outcome.

Podles won a rematch in 1982.

In 1994, the District 21 election for the Wyoming House of Representatives saw only 1,941 winning votes. Republican Randall Luthi and independent candidate Larry Call each received 1,941 votes in a state House race in northern Lincoln County. On live TV (NBC’s “Today Show”), Secretary of State Kathy Karpan drew a ping pong ball with Luthi’s name out of Governor Sullivan’s rumpled cowboy hat.

Last year, in the District 94 Virginia House of Delegates election, the initial vote count had incumbent Republican David Yancey ahead by 13 votes. After a canvas that included provisional ballots, Yancey’s lead was cut to 10 votes. Following a recount, Yancey trailed Democratic challenger Shelly Simmonds by one vote out of 23,215 cast. After review by a three-judge panel appointed by the Virginia Supreme Court, a disputed ballot that had been excluded as an overvote was instead counted for Yancey and the race was certified as a tie with the candidates to draw lots to determine a winner. The drawing of lots was later postponed after Simmonds asked a state court to reconsider the disputed ballot.

On Jan. 4, the names of each candidate were placed inside a film canister, both canisters were placed in a bowl and one canister was drawn at random by State Board of Elections chairman James Alcorn. David Yancey won the draw and the seat, giving Republicans control of the House 51-49.

Control of this single seat determined whether Republicans controlled the House of Delegates or if power was evenly split, according to reports from election stats.

If you look at the number of voters, these elections were decided with only a handful of the population voting in these races.

Yes, some of these elections had less population than others, but consider this. If maybe 100 people didn’t vote in any of these races, would the outcome have been the same? Would the election have had to go to the extremes such as the breath-taking moment to draw straws?

It almost seems like a kick in the teeth to see your vote be left up to who draws the longest straw, or however else other tiebreakers are decided.

Every vote matters, and it is one of the few things that unites all of us as citizens.

Make your voice count for this election.