America is a nation of voters. Of course, there are millions who aren’t registered and millions more who, for various reasons, don’t vote. Perhaps they’re tired of voting. They’re sick of the unending array of nagging, stressful choices that are thrust upon us every day.

Vote, vote, vote, it seems that’s all we ever do. We vote in real elections, and fake ones ”“ “If the presidential election were held today”¦” pollsters muse ”“ and everything in between. From the moment we wake up, to the moment we go to bed, it’s a referendum on daily life.

Do we start with Corn Chex or yogurt? Wear a striped tie? Take the train to work?

And that’s just for openers.

No sooner does the day begin than we’re forced to make yet more choices: Low-carb, no fat, decaf, single-breasted, double-knit, high octane, low impact, right now!

All that, mind you, before we even get  to work.

If voting is, by definition, expressing an opinion or choice, then we’re all perennial voters.

Nor do we reserve our opinions for the purely personal. We’ll happily cast our vote to elect a “Survivor,” “Apprentice” or “American Idol.” If “Idol” is the most truly populist of the shows, its winners chosen by viewer votes, “Apprentice” is the least. Donald Trump is an electoral college of one, his vote the reason for the show’s being.

There’s no end to the litany of issues we’re asked to opine about. Given this chronic taking of our collective pulse, you’d think we were well-versed in the business of voting. But apparently not. 

Somehow for millions of Americans, there’s a disconnect between the countless choices we make each day and the presidential ones that arise every four years. Truth is, they’re all part of the same continuum. Never mind whether the issue is double latte or Democrat. What matters is the availability of choices and our freedom to choose.

— Joan Silverman is a writer in Kennebunk. This column originally appeared in The Christian Science Monitor.