Exercise Your Right to Vote

The exercise of the right to vote is a hallmark of a democracy. The fact that we can go to the polls and pull the lever or fill in the circle (or whatever the voting technology requires) without being threatened, attacked or targeted, means that democracy is working. 

Yes, the democratic process may be messy and loud at times, and the debates heated and the ads too negative… but we can still exercise our right to vote without fear of losing our jobs or having our families targeted. 


It was not that long ago in our national history that pioneers like Fanny Lou Hamer (and countless, nameless others) were brutally beaten just for registering African-Americans to vote in the 1960s. 


And it was only in our grandmothers' lifetimes that women were given the right to vote with the 19th Amendment in 1920. 

We remember and honor all those who sacrificed, and suffered, and struggled, so we can have this right and this privilege… let us not take it for granted. 

When you're running around with a million things to do, wondering if you should bother voting, and if it really matters -- yes, you should, and yes, it does matter. Voting honors our past and lays the groundwork for our future. 

(And vist http://www.archives.gov/ to read the charter documents of our democracy - the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.)

Gilda Bonanno's blog www.gildabonanno.blogspot.com