Early Voting has begun! Commit To VOTE!
No Matter What You Hear or See…..Vote Any Way!
By D. L. White
In the epic blockbuster fantasy, Lord of the Rings, Gandalf the Wizard, standing behind a blocked wall with an almost depleted troop of weary soldiers, warned, “No matter what comes through or over those walls, stand fast.”
Orgs (half man and half beast) soon crashed through the wall with goliath sized bohemians crashing through as well. Ready or not, the General Election will take place on the first Tuesday in November. November 3rd, to be exact. Across the country half man/half-beast type efforts to suppress the Vote is underway.
In Texas the Governor attempted to mandate each County have only one Early Drop-off location? Harris County (Houston and surrounding area) has a million plus residents. Shameful.
In California the GOP placed “fake” Ballot boxes in areas largely occupied by African American and Hispanic voters.
The President is on record stating Mail-In Ballots are fraudulent? It should be noted, President Trump and his family have cast their ballots via mail for the past several years with no complaints. Trump of course is attempting to create controversy on the Mail in process during a pandemic, when returning Ballots by mail is the safest way in which to Vote safely.
Although Polling locations across the country are on record of committing to take every possible precaution for example a number of Cities are utilizing Sports Arena’s as Polling Places – Staples Center in LA; the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta and in Phoenix, AZ the home of the Suns and Mercury, Talking Stick Arena will be used as a Polling location.
No matter what you see on your television sets or hear, about the candidate(s) who you are considering to vote for, study, and learn about them for yourself. Get out and Vote anyway!
A common saying suggests all is fair in love, war and politics. Politics was once considered a gentleman’s forum. A forum for statesmen who loved their country more than themselves. Those days are long gone.
Politics today have become a partisan whirlwind of emotion, much like the catastrophic devastation of earthquake, shaking the very foundation and understanding once believed honest. Unlike Primary Elections in which elected voters must vote for candidates in from their own party, and Independent Voters had to declare if they were voting Democrat of Republican in the primary, all registered voters can vote for whom they please in November.
“Voters must commit to going to the polls and create a plan to Vote,”
shared the former First Lady Michelle Obama during one stop on her scheduled tours across the country to encourage voter turnout.
“You can say it doesn’t matter or too much is going on, but that is what appears to have happened (2016). You can say you are not voting, but those other folks are certainly planning to turnout. Your vote is very important. Voting does make a difference,” emphasized Obama.
The Former First Lady is absolutely correct; the time to commit and review the information pamphlets to ensure an informed decision is now.
As the races heat up, so does the negative, mudslinging, smear campaigns and mischaracterization.
“Attack ads have one purpose and one purpose alone,” shared Carmen Roberts a home health care professional.
Said Roberts, “Too often (candidates) do not talk about what they are going to do, their ad is meant to make their opponent look bad.
“I made the mistake of listening to all the negative in 2016, and thinking my vote did not matter. I just said forget it. I am part of the reason we have who we have in the Whitehouse now. I am shame to say I did not vote in 16’, I just stayed home, not this time, I am voting in 2020,” shared Roberts.
Roberts could have been speaking for thousands, literally hundreds of thousands of registered voters that chose to stay home and not cast a ballot in 2016.
The smear campaign in 2016 was effective in creating enough doubt in American voters’ minds that many did not vote. The outcome is plain and simple for all to see.
The American political process was built on the belief of one man/person one vote.
Voting matters and more importantly your vote matters.
During Presidential election years, ballots are full of propositions, candidates seeking state and congressional offices as well as Judges, school boards and a number of other positions. The Bottom line, Ballots require a reasonable amount of time to be reviewed.
Now is the time to make sure you are registered at your current address and that the name on your identification is the same as is recorded for you at the Register’s Office.
Voting is a right of every American citizen. Make sure you exercise that right and Vote!
Plan to Vote on Nov 3, for all those that paid with their lives and those yet to come.
Danny L. White currently lives in Phoenix, AZ. He is the author and creative lead for the Sensational letter “S”, a children’s book focused on early reading comprehension and word development. He is also a Adjunct faculty member at Maricopa College, and staff reporter for the Arizona Informant.