Why you need to vote in this election, as explained by Batman's classic "Death in The Family," story.

Jason Todd debuted, and he was a carbon copy of Dick but Bruce had to go to court against a vampire for custody. This story was later scrapped and he was given a new origin in which he stole the wheels from the Batmobile and was taken in because Bruce liked his style.

Despite, what people tell you, Jason wasn't really unpopular. He wasn't as popular as Dick, but he had plenty of fans and reader letters from the comics will show that.

The biggest split came in a story called "Diplomat's Son," in which Batman is fine letting diplomat's son get away with cocaine smuggling, and driving his girlfriend to suicide. Jason confronts him, and the man falls from a sky scraper. Batmnan never knew if Jason pushed him.

But again, Jason Todd was not as hated as people would like you to think. Letters poured in from readers discussing it. Yes, some wanted Jason gone, others felt it didn't matter if Jason had pushed him. Some were angry, but most people, just wanted to know how the story ended.

Then comes "Death in The Family," and DC gives people the option to vote on if Jason survives, or Jason dies by calling into a phone line.

Again, don't believe the hype, Jason was not universally hated and had just as many fans as he did haters. The letters again show people split on if Jason Todd should survive or die.

The votes came in, and when the phone lines closed the totals were 5,271 to 5,343. Jason Todd, would die by a difference of only 72 votes.

In the immediate aftermath Denny O'Neil the editor expressed his shock. Jason Todd had actually been voted to live, all the way until the last 30 minutes when a surge of votes for him to die suddenly hit the phone lines.

Years later Denny would reveal that one person had rigged their phones to vote in favor of Jason dying hundreds of times, it should have been a landslide victory for Jason Todd to live, but it wasn't.

The moral here is, your vote matters. There are people who are not playing by the rules and will rig the system. But, there are enough of us to win, if we all actually go out and vote.