The Importance of Voting

DUKES FANS: “Buddy, you have to vote in every election. Every one. People died so you could get this right, and if you don’t vote, then you are spitting on their graves Ruth Davis That is what my mother said to me when I was a kid and she would take me into the voting booth with her. Voting was almost a sacred ritual to Ruth Davis. My family was a working- class African-American family, and I was born after WWII. This was at the start of the postwar rise of the suburbs, the rise of the middle class, and the beginning of the social upheavals of the 1960’s- the Woman’s Movement, the counter-culture, and of course, the Civil Rights Movement. Both of my parents were Southern-born, and they lived through Jim Crow segregation, Ku Klux Klan violence, and limited economic opportunities for Blacks.We subscribed to the Philadelphia Tribune, Philadelphia’s black newspaper, Ebony magazine, and the Evening Bulletin newspaper. Our church held voting registration drives and took part in marches and demonstrations to, among other things , get Pepsi Cola to award franchises to Black beverage distributors. I grew up in a family that read about, talked about, and took part in important social and political issues. Mom and Dad wanted their kids to live in a world that offered more opportunities for their children than they had as they were growing up. So it was not a surprise that in high school I participated in numerous Civil Rights and Anti-Viet Nam War marches and protests. The voting age at that time was 21, and I used to stand on street corners with petitions calling for the voting age to be lowered to 18. At 18 we had to register for the military draft and could be sent off to Viet Nam; many of us thought we ought to at least have a say in picking who it might be the one who would send us there. In 1971 the 26th Amendment was passed, and the 1972 Presidential election was the first one in which 18 year- olds could cast a vote. I proudly voted in that election, and I have voted in every election since. I was not going to be spitting on any graves. I say all of this to urge people to register to vote in the upcoming November election and then to show up and actually vote. If you have paid even cursory attention to the news this year, you know that this is not only an unusual election but a supremely important one. This election may well be the one that determines the future structure, powers, functions, and direction that our republic will take for at least the next decade or so. It is vitally important that everyone who is legally able to do so register and then vote to have a say in this process. It is one of our opportunities and duties as a citizen. If you do not like the outcome but did not vote, to me you have no right to complain. Registration deadlines for the tri-state area are October 12th for Delaware, October15th for New Jersey, and Oct 21st for Pennsylvania. And if you are registered, it would probably be a good idea to check to make sure your registration is in order, especially if you have not voted in a while. Some states have removed people from the voter rolls, and they have not necessarily informed everyone who has been removed. Here is a link to a site that can help you find important registration and voting information: https://www.aarp.org/politics-society/government-elections/info-2024/state-voting-guides.html I hope you all participate in this process; it is essential to our republic remaining a republic.