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Candace
Talmadge
Read Candace's bio and previous columns
November 5, 2007
Tomorrow’s Election
Day, So Vote or Shut Up!
November 6 is Election Day. Are you registered to vote? Do you know the
location of your polling place? Have you pulled a sample ballot for your
precinct and studied the pros and cons of the issues up for decision?
Have you voted already in those locales that provide early voting or do
you plan to take time tomorrow to vote?
If you answered “No” to any of those questions, you have forfeited the
right to complain about the government you get. Butts off the couch and
vote or quit your bitchin’!
And if your vehicle sports one of those magnetic yellow stickers
proclaiming your support for the troops, either vote or rip the damn
thing off!
Thousands of courageous soldiers, sailors, marines and pilots have died
or been injured defending this nation. I think about them and thank them
in my heart every time I wait in line to vote. Casting our ballots is
the very least I (and all others fortunate enough to be citizens of this
country) can do to honor them with real service instead of just lip
service.
If you think I sound a tad exasperated, I am. While the 2004
presidential election pulled the highest voter turnout in four decades,
voters tend to ignore congressional elections and really abdicate their
responsibilities when it comes to local, issue-focused elections like
this year’s offering.
Congressional and odd-year elections do not offer the clash of strong
personalities of a presidential run that excites more interest and lures
more to the voting booth. Yet they are just as critical to the
functioning of our republic and deserve the same level of voter
participation.
Texas, as just one example, has 16 state constitutional amendments on
the ballot. One of those amendments requires that both houses of the
Lone Star State’s legislature record members’ final votes on
non-ceremonial bills and make those votes public. (Yes, my adoptive
state has never required recorded, public votes by its legislators.
Absolutely amazing.)
Even the non-partisan League of Women Voters’ Texas chapter has endorsed
this amendment, for which it lobbied for years. I will vote for it,
doing my part to help move this great state into the 20th
Century.
Even for an off year or local election, there are damn few legitimate
excuses for not fulfilling your responsibility as a U.S. citizen. If you
want elected officials to take you seriously, then vote every time you
can and let them know you do it each time you communicate with them.
The trick is, they need your votes. All the Political Action Committee
money in the world or campaign contributions from deep-pocketed donors
won’t mean a thing if they cannot also gain enough votes to win office.
Yes, people have stuffed ballot boxes in the past and, during the 2004
election, almost certainly manipulated electronic voting totals in Ohio
to hand President Bush another victory. But here’s the kicker. The more
eligible voters who go to the polls, the harder it is to manipulate
results without the illicit changes becoming obvious. There is such a
thing as safety in large voting numbers.
At the risk of revealing my advancing years, I always let my elected
representatives know I have voted in almost every election for which I
have been eligible since 1972. (In the interests of full disclosure, I
did miss one election. It was Feb. 1, 2003, the day the space shuttle
Columbia broke up over Texas. I was too grief stricken that day to
remember to vote. I’m not sure that counts as a legitimate excuse but
that’s what transpired.)
It’s not too late. The League of Women Voters (www.lwv.org) has state
organizations that offer non-partisan voting guides. That’s where I
found my voting guide and the sample ballot for my precinct.
I
know what I’m doing for tonight’s homework. Will you join me? It’s up to
all eligible voters to make this democracy thing work.
© 2007
North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.
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