On Voting

Last week a new president was elected. Since then, there have been many demonstrations against President elect Donald Trump. In an interview on 60 Minutes Nov. 23, Trump was asked about the demonstrations. He stated he was “sad to see them and if he was asked to tell the demonstrators one thing it would be to stop.”

The demonstrations also made me sad. Sad to think there are people more interested in causing discord, more hate, more divisiveness in our country than in helping to make it better and stronger.

But what makes me even sadder is people who didn’t vote. When I was able to vote for the first time I was so excited. It was a chance for me to have a voice about who would serve in offices. And it was a huge responsibility in my eyes. I felt it was my duty to be informed about who the candidates were, why they were running for office, what they hoped to accomplish, how they planned to help their town, county, state and federal government. And I felt it was vitally important to understand any initiative that was on the ballot.

In 1968, I was totally disenfranchised. My husband and I got married in October in Iowa. As soon as I said “I do” I was no longer a resident of Iowa and ineligible to vote. At that time, Montana state law said you had to be a resident of the state for six months in order to be able to vote. So neither could I vote in Montana.

But I still feel as I did when I could vote. Okay, a person didn’t want to vote for the president and vice president. But there were other candidates for other offices, our state’s representative in Congress, superintendent of public instruction, auditor, secretary of state, state supreme court seats, and more. In not voting at all because of not liking the presidential candidates, it took votes away from other candidates and initiatives. Votes that may have affected those outcomes.

I’ve heard that the popular vote doesn’t count anyway -- that the electoral college is the one that decides who will be president. To me, that is pretty much like my dad always told me, “A poor excuse is better than none when you are hunting for one.”

Go back to the history books and really read about the U.S. Constitution and those who framed it. Their foresight was and remains incredible.

To my mind, voting is not only a privilege but a right and a duty. In not voting, we are saying that the individual doesn’t count, that it doesn’t matter who is in or out of office as long as it doesn’t affect your life. But it does affect your life. It affects policies and decisions made, laws that are passed or not passed, repealing laws that are harmful.

Voting gives us the chance to have our say about candidates and issues. How can we possibly expect any changes to be made or have a decent government body on every level if we don’t exercise our right to vote?