I CAN’T VOTE IN THE 2020 ELECTION BUT I CAN PLAY A ROLE
“Hey, you have to register to vote. OK? Every vote counts.”
I see myself repeating these rather cliche sentences to my friends, acquaintances and classmates. These words seem to be the most I can do for this upcoming election, being a South Korean native and lawful permanent resident in the United States. When I receive the frequent grumbles and hesitant responses of “I’m too lazy to register, but fine,” from my friends, I know I wouldn’t hesitate to take their ballot and cast the vote myself, if only the law permitted it.
The United States is home to 10.5 million unauthorized immigrants and 35.2 million lawful immigrants including naturalized citizens, lawful permanent residents and temporary lawful residents, according to a 2017 study conducted by the Pew Research Center. With California being one of the three states housing nearly half of the population of Dreamers and green card holders, it would not be a shock to learn that there are many Dreamers and noncitizens nationally who wish to vote but are not eligible to do so.
Despite the fact that the U.S. Code 18 Section 611 bars Dreamers and lawful immigrants from voting and warns of fines and imprisonment, this is a reality. But for me, there is no time to feel heavy-hearted because Election Day is so soon. Instead, it is crucial for us to look at the election through a different angle and find a way to inf luence it indirectly, in a positive and beneficial matter.
One example of indirect participation in the election is to inf luence voters and the general public with truth. Election periods such as this tend to be the busiest time for most newspaper companies nationally. With reporters trying to fact-check information thrown around by political parties and presidential candidates, they are also in a constant war with disinformation and bots.
For both Dreamers and noncitizens, it is crucial that we help correct the increased spread of disinformation about the election that is circulating domestically, as it heavily affects our lifestyles and the way we live today. This disinformation includes the recent unsurprising report in Vanity Fair documenting past atrocities such as voter suppression during the 2016 Donald Trump campaign. Voter suppression is not new news, and it is bound to recur in future elections, including this one.
Considering that voter suppression is a great threat to democracy in the U.S., it is also prudent to share these findings and credible information with voters who are willing to learn, as active members of this society. This is so that voters are not inf luenced by inaccurate information f loating around social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Perhaps by taking on this responsibility, Dreamers and noncitizens such as myself could have prevented the shameful incident of more than 3.5 million African Americans allegedly being deterred from polling stations four years ago by Trump’s campaign.
With the COVID-19 pandemic unexpectedly disrupting the primary season of the 2020 campaign, the election underwent numerous changes from the way citizens vote to who registers or re-registers to vote. The New York Times reported in June that states such as North Carolina, Arizona and California are seeing fewer new voters.
While scrolling through social media applications these days, the platforms continuously remind me and their users to register to vote. In the past, I felt a sense of marginalization because I felt as if I did not play an important role in society, due to my lack of social responsibilities compared to others. I also know that there are other Dreamers and noncitizens in the U.S. who feel the same way. Although there may be some bitter emotions about not being able to make our ballots count, there is now a sense of urgency because we do not know how many people are currently being affected by disinformation.
Now that election days are becoming shorter, we have to get busier. We have to encourage people around us to register to vote, if they have not yet. Make sure to correct factual errors about the election whenever you see them. Drive people to polling stations. Get involved in political phone banking. Let them know that “every vote counts” because, as much as those words sound very cliche, it’s true.
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