BLOOD WAS SHED AND LIVES LOST FOR YOUR CRUCIAL RIGHT TO VOTE
In the wake of the 2020 election, the nation has been awash in handwringing about the fate of our democracy. Former President Donald Trump and his legions of supporters are still pushing the canard that the election was stolen for Joe Biden, who, they declare, is not our real president. Their lies inspired the fearsome Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. From Washington to Winnemucca, Nevada, the politicians, polls and pundits warn that our nearly 246-year-old democracy is at grave risk. Republican U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney previewed the U.S. House committee hearings into the Jan. 6 insurrection by asking Americans to pay attention.
“People must watch, and they must understand how easily our democratic system can unravel if we don’t defend it,” Cheney said.
The Stop the Stealers and their ilk are destabilizing our democracy and undercutting the credibility of our elections.
“It’s an ongoing threat,” Cheney said. “It is extremely broad. It’s extremely well organized. It’s really chilling.”
Outraged congressional investigators, cheerleaders for good government and political activists are sounding grim alarms that our democracy could go up in flames.
Many Americans agree, a recent poll by Yahoo News/YouGov shows. Most Democrats, at 55%, and Republicans, 53%, believe it is “likely” that America will “cease to be a democracy in the future,” according to the survey of 1,541 U.S. adults taken June 10-13.
When independents and those with no political affiliation were included, about half of the respondents expressed the same sentiment while 25% said they think the end of U.S. democracy unlikely. Another 25% were unsure.
So, if we are so fearful for our democracy, why don’t we vote?
Illinois’ June 28 primary elections will determine many nominees for key races for governor, secretary of state, U.S. Senate and House, state Supreme Court, dozens of local judicial races, and many other state and local offices.
The simple act of voting has never been easier, thanks to recent reforms such as early voting, both in-person and by mail.
Yet turnout has been abysmally low so far this election season. As of last Friday, Chicago residents had cast only 70,150 ballots in person or by mail, according to the Chicago Board of Elections.
In March 2014, only 16.54% of registered voters participated in the primary. In March 2018, turnout was 32.69%, according to Max Bever, spokesperson for the Elections Board. Bever expects Tuesday’s turnout to fall somewhere in between. Pitiful.
This is not a new trend, and it mirrors other elections around the nation. In the June 7 California primary, 32.1% of registered voters showed up at the polls, according to the California secretary of state’s office. On May 24, about 23% of registered voters turned out in Alabama, even though, as in Illinois, there is hot competition for several statewide and congressional offices.
Traditionally, voter participation is lower in midterm elections. This year, the Illinois legislature was forced to delay the primary from March to June 28, which might leave some voters disconnected and confused.
Yet, here we are, debating whether our votes were stolen in the 2020 presidential election and whether the current occupant of the White House was legitimately elected.
Voting is the linchpin of our democracy and the freedoms it ensures.
We are responsible for the politicians we elect. Voting is how we keep them accountable and responsible. Voting assures that you have a voice in your future. Blood has been shed, lives lost, bodies maimed for the right to vote.
Most everyone I know rants on about Trump and his ilk and the damage they are doing to our democracy. But will they vote?
July 4 is around the corner, and Americans will happily celebrate our “freedoms” by waving the red-whiteand-blue, firing up the grill and popping fireworks.
Voting? We don’t have time for that. Illinois Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger led the questioning at the Jan. 6 House committee hearing on Thursday.
As he concluded his remarks, Kinzinger called on “every American, now and in the future, to stand for truth, to reject the lies wherever we confront them. And our towns, and our capitals, and our friendships, and our families, and at the ballot box, and within our own minds and hearts.”
The ballot box is a good place to start.