I’m Voting Today. It’s My Super Power!
When they were little, my three kids thought that I had super powers. Most little kids do. They think their parent knows everything and can do anything. This is not surprising, because their world is small and you provide almost all the answers and tend to almost all their needs. I sometimes pine for those days. For example, Charlotte once asked me to explain how a rocket works (she’s now an engineer). She asked with such honesty and sincerity, I knew that she just assumed that I just knew (I did not). Now my little girl can not only explain this science to me, but she can actually build a rocket. Go figure. Charlotte now knows, as do Joe and Libby, that I do not, in fact, possess super powers – at least not the all-knowing kind. BUT, and it’s a big one, I do possess one super power, the one that every U.S. Citizen over 18 can also possess… and that’s being a registered voter… and voting. It’s our right and our duty as Americans. And today, November 5th, 2024, we get to show off that super power… so get out and vote today!
Why Getting Out and Voting Today Matters…
Voting is so important today, because our numbers still aren’t that great on voting in comparison to the rest of the world. In The U.S. we did have the highest voter turnout of the 21st century, with 66.8% of our citizens, 18 years and older, voting in the 2020 presidential election? Even with this historic turnout, the United States is still below the average of all developed nations when it comes to voter turnout! That is truly mind-boggling! Early voting has been promising, but today’s the day if you haven’t voted yet and want to make it count!
Did You Know: There are 244 million U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote – BUT… only 66% are registered. C’mon people! We can do way better than that! We are the United States of America, after all! The best damn country on the planet! If you compare our turnout to places like Turkey and Belgium where 85.2% and 87.2% of voters cast ballots it’s even more amazing! So let’s get on this… show them what we are made of… I know we can rock this!
They Walked For Miles and Stood In Line For Hours…
In 1994 South Africa held its first free elections where all citizens were allowed to vote. In the election, which lasted over three days, 19.7 million citizens cast ballots (87%). It was lucky that there were three days to vote, because many South Africans walked more than 20 miles to cast their ballot and many waited in line for more than 24 hours to do so.
In The DR Congo, the 2018 elections were deemed by both The Catholic Church and Human Rights Watch to be rife with human rights violations, voter suppression and violence. Armed militia at polling places intimated voters into casting their ballots for the military-backed candidate or into not voting at all. People risked their lives to vote in the DR Congo.
In The US we might have to wait a few hours in line today and we may not know the winner for a little while, but we face nothing like this. So what are you waiting for?
What To Do If You Don’t Know Where To Vote Today?
So what do you do if you want to vote, but you don’t know where?
In Rhode Island you can go to the Secretary of State’s website, enter your name and zip and find out where your polling place is through this link: Find Out Where To Vote: Rhode Island.
In Other U.S. States you can click on this U.S. government site to find your state’s Secretary of State’s website and thereby your polling place: Find Out Where To Vote: USA.
And Now For A Little Music Before We Go…
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.“
-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
And if you need some light reading whilst waiting in line to vote, check out my previous, feel-good blogs like: Finding Reasons For Joy and Lessons I Learned From My Dog.
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