Prove American exceptionalism: Vote
Whether early, absentee or in person
Recently my wife and I went to the Taos County Registrar’s office, requested applications for absentee ballots, easily and quickly filled them out and handed them to the helpful staffer who had brought them out to us (the building is restricted because of the coronavirus).
We did this in light of all the controversy about voting in the upcoming Nov. 3 presidential election.
This simple action, and the motivation to do it, got me to thinking about our right and duty to vote.
When I was a kid in the 1950s, my parents were solid New Hampshire Republicans, my dad a World War II veteran and supporter of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. My dad’s mother, to whom I was very close, was an ardent Democrat who revered President Franklin D. Roosevelt and credited him with the family survival during the Great Depression. The family had some pretty good exchanges about politics, but the goal was, though I didn’t realize it at the time, to help us kids decide our own politics.
Also, in those years, I enjoyed excellent history and civics teachers, so by the time I could vote I understood our political system pretty well and could make informed choices. Above all, I understood voting as a sacred right and duty for us Americans. When I was old enough to vote, I did so, and haven’t missed an election in 55 years. I’m not bragging, just saying I have done my duty as I was taught to see it.
Most of those votes were cast in person in Oregon, Washington and New Mexico. For a decade in the state of Washington I voted by mail since that was the system, and it was great – convenient, reassuring and safe. There was no hint of fraud. In fact, I never even thought about it.
Naively, for much of my life, I assumed that in America most people saw voting as a sacred right and duty. If they didn’t vote, they probably had a good reason that excused them, though again I didn’t give those who failed to exercise their right and duty to vote much thought. I understood there had been voter suppression of minorities, but I was confident progress had been made. We had, after all, a Voting Rights Act. I discounted active voter suppression, and in doing so I was derelict in my duty as a patriotic American.
American history has long been a deep interest of mine. I learned how imperfect the country has been in pursuit of its ideals, yet I also learned how many Americans had suffered and died in pursuit of those ideals. I celebrated America’s achievements and leadership in the world, while recognizing that its imperfections dictated the necessity of always striving to be a better nation.
So here we are today in a condition I never expected to see – the sacred right and duty to vote at risk as never before. Efforts to suppress the vote are so egregious and serious that they cannot be ignored. “Vote by mail” is attacked without evidence as an invitation to fraud. The service of the U.S. Postal Service, essential to a successful election in the time of COVID-19, is threatened.
People have been and will be forced in many places to be physically present to vote, to choose between their duty to vote and health risks. Accusations are made that any vote that dethrones President Trump are “rigged” and thus he cannot be defeated.
We here in New Mexico are fortunate to be provided a better opportunity to have our votes counted in these circumstances than in many parts of the United States. Our leaders have seen to that. So, we must accept our duty and responsibility and vote early, absentee or in person. So much is at stake in this election – the future of our beloved public lands, the nature of our response to the pandemic, how we will deal with the obvious problems of climate change – and so much more.
We must vote, so please do so with pride in our citizenship in what has been and hopefully will continue to be the most successful democratic nation in history. If there is any “American exceptionalism,” it will be evident in the response of the American people in this election to their duty to vote.