Fri 10 Oct 2008
Cast a Vote That Actually Matters
Posted by Claire D under Current Events, Politics, Society
All of the focus in national media is on the presidential election. McCain or Obama? Palin or Biden? Naturally the decision on the leader of our country’s government is going to attract a lot of attention. It is important to remember that there are lots of other, smaller positions being decided on election day. As the candidates campaign hysterically, I urge you to take a step back from the sound and fury of the presidential election and take a moment to understand what else you are voting for.
As a citizen of the state of Pennsylvania, I have a member of the House of Representatives and two members of the General Assembly to cast votes for. Maybe you will have a senator or a mayor to elect. Perhaps there will be a referendum for you to decide on. These are the votes that you are going to be able to cast that will directly impact your day to day life. Sure, the president oversees it all, but if you don’t like what the government is doing, your first course of action should be to contact your Congressman.
Far too many people show up on election day hell bent to vote for their chosen presidential candidate with no idea of what the other names on the ballot are even going to be. This is unfortunate as these are the people who will be directly representing your town and interests in the state and national government. I encourage all of you to research a sample ballot and investigate the records and views of the candidates for state and local government that you may be asked to vote for. After all, your vote for president will be one of hundreds of millions. Your vote for state senator or representative might be one of just hundreds of thousands, and that is a vote that can make a difference.
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October 10th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Thank you Claire, with all the presidential talk I honestly didn’t even think about what else I could potentially be voting for behind closed curtains on Nov. 4th. Now I am going to have to find out. You are right if you want to be represented well in government then make sure you vote accordingly, otherwise the last resort to change anything is to pick up an AK (obvious sarcasm).
October 10th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
“Guess it was a good day / I didn’t have to use my AK”
Don’t forget that these other guys may be the ones who actually wind up deciding who is your next president because of the electoral college system. It’s probably more important to find out what is going on with these other candidates.
P.S. I guess McCain whipped out his AK by bringing Palin into the fold…
October 10th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
That song is definitely stuck in my head now.
Claire, excellent work - I have to admit you brought a glaring oversight to bare.
October 10th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
On a serious note, I just went to njvoterinfo.org. On Nov. 4, we will be voting for a Senator and Congressman, and of course the President.
October 11th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Well said Claire.
I’m willing to bet that most of the outspoken critics of the election process have no clue who their senators and congressmen are.
Also, given the per capita value of a vote, the individual has a much louder voice in the small scale elections as you point out.
October 11th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
You bring up a great point that I think has some serious implications…
1) I haven’t been able to find the stats, but if you figure that most people don’t know any of the state officials they are voting for on the 4th, then I’d guess that anybody voting Democrat/Republican for president would vote that same party for the state officials. That’s a pretty ridiculous way for someone to get elected.
2) I think the lack of interest and inquiry into state officials running for election makes it even more tempting to commit corruption while in office. Barely anybody is paying attention to your career until you get high up in politics anyway.
This is a good site to look up who’s running for election on the state level: Congesspedia
October 11th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
In PA they actually have a one stop box where you can just vote for all of one party if you like. New Jersey ballots don’t have this, as there seems to be more special interest tiny parties trying to get into office.