No more excuses: Make sure you exercise your right to vote

This year, nearly 60 percent of Americans will be giving up one of their most valued rights found in the U.S. Constitution. The Fifteenth Amendment states: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

This right is being lost because of apathy and ignorance. In an odd numbered year (such as 2023) about 40 percent of all eligible Chester County voters will vote. But 60 percent will stay home.

Those who do not vote will provide as their excuses:

• “My vote is not going to change any election outcome.”

• “I only vote in important elections — like a presidential election.”

• “I don’t know who to vote for, so I won’t vote.”

• “There is not much difference between the candidates. Why bother?”

• “It takes too much of my time.”

With these excuses, Americans are giving the running of their government to a small handful of concerned voters. If only 40 percent of the potential voters actually vote, it is 20percent plus 1 of all voters who decide the winners. Actually, it is even closer than that. Most elections are won or lost by as few as 5 percent of the vote. 5 percent of 40 percent is only 2 percent of the total universe of possible voters who will determine the final outcome of this odd number year election.

In the last fall election, one of the PA House seats was decided by only 58 votes. Democrats secured control of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives when in Montgomery County, Democratic challenger Melissa Cerrato beat incumbent Republican State Rep. Todd Stephens.Over 34,000 votes were cast. This one election determined which political party (Democrat) will control the PA House of Representatives.

This year’s election in Chester County is very important. These elections include; one PA Supreme Court position, 5 Common Pleas Court positions, 3 County Commissioners, District Attorney, Recorder of Deeds, Register of Wills, Prothonotary, Sheriff, School Board Directors, Township Supervisors and Township Auditors. These positions oversee the $615 million county budget, local courts that the average citizen would see first, local public schools, and the running of each of the 73 municipalities in Chester County. The decisions these local officials make can easily have a greater influence on the average citizen’s life than decisions made by state-wide or nation-wide races. These elections are all VERY important.

Because these elections are not as well funded as high profile statewide or nationwide elections, it is harder to discern who is running and their platforms. Information about the candidates are not hidden, however. The websites of each party are easy to find.

If you think there is not much difference between the candidates, a Google search for Chester County Voter Services will allow you to discover the names of all who have gained sufficient signatures to be on the ballot. These names will be posted soon after the March 8 deadline for filing nomination papers. Most of these candidates have their own webpage.

No longer can a voter say that it takes too much time to vote. Pennsylvania now has a mail-in ballot process that allows any registered voter to request an election ballot. From the comfort of their home, each voter can fill out that ballot and have it mailed to election headquarters in a pre-paid envelope. This process, from start to finish, can take less than five minutes. Once the ballot is mailed, the voter can track their vote on the Internet to ensure that it was received and counted. (vote.pa.gov)

So, now, is no longer any legitimate excuses for citizens to give up their Constitutional right to vote. If you choose not to vote, you are throwing away a right that hundreds of thousands of your fellow Americans died to protect.

In his book on the history of Rome, historian Will Durant wrote, “A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has first destroyed itself from within. The essential cause of Rome’s decline lay in her people and her morals.”

Your vote is your nation’s founders’ gift to keep America from perishing from the earth.

Plato noted, “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” May America not experience the same.