Ballots stronger than bullets

The best time to remind people to vote seems to be the day after an election.

That is the day when “Are you kidding me?” is the reaction many people wake up with when they see the election results from the night before.

By this morning we will know how many runoff elections are set for July 17. It is not too late to register to vote if you have not yet.

Voter registration in the July 17 primary runoff election is July 2. The last day to apply for an absentee ballot is July 12 and the last day for a voter to hand-deliver or postmark an absentee ballot is July 16.

According to Alabama law, if a person voted in a particular party in the primary election, they may only vote in that party’s runoff, if there is one.

It is always amazing to me to see how few people vote. When we write post-election stories, the number of eligible voters compared to actual voters is amazing. A glimpse through Sun file stories reveals that voting officials call 60 percent voter turnout “good.”

It’s no secret that the United States has one of the lowest voter turnouts, which is ironic for a country so fiercely protective of freedom.

Few who watched will ever forget the faces of the Iraqis lined up for miles for a chance to vote January 30, 2005 in the first general election held in their country since the United States-led invasion in 2003. The event marked a major step in turning control of the country over to the Iraqis themselves.

As a means of fraud prevention, a finger on those who had voted was marked with purple ink. The ballot is stronger than the bullet is something that former United States President Abraham Lincoln is credited with saying. It was clear that the Iraqi voters hoped for that truth as news film and photos flashed around the world of citizens with ear to ear grins holding up their purple fingers with pride.

Everybody in our own country didn’t always have the right to vote. There are six amendments in the Bill of Rights that ensure United States citizens over the age of 18, regardless of race or gender, have the right to vote.

Thanks to the 14th, 15th, 19th, 23rd, 24th, and 26th Amendments, there can be no stipulations based on race, gender, age, or ethnicity when it comes to voting. There are those in this country that spent decades unable to vote. We need to remember that when we get complacent in our attitude.

Sometimes I think that my single vote won’t make a difference—and as I go to the polls I see fellow-voters that I know clearly will be cancelling out any impact of my vote.

Then I remember the election of 2000 when President George W. Bush’s narrow victory over Democrat challenger Al Gore ended up being decided by the United States Supreme Court and I remember again the importance of a single vote.

It’s easy to register to vote—and it’s free. A citizen may register to vote when applying for or renewing an Alabama driver’s license or non-driver identification card, at state and local government offices when applying for Aid to Dependent Children, SNAP, TANF, Food Stamps, WIC, Medicaid, at public libraries at armed forces recruiting stations, at the county board of registrar’s and by mail-in form available at probate judge and license offices.

A mail-in registration form may be obtained by calling the county board of registrars or the elections division in the Office of the Secretary of State at 1-800-274-VOTE or by mailing in the form downloaded from the Secretary of State’s website at alabamavotes.gov. Citizens who are 17 years of age at the time registration closes but who will be 18 years of age prior to the election are permitted to register.

We voice our concerns to elected officials—some of us more than others—but if we aren’t voting, our concerns lack teeth.

Key dates: The primary run-off is Tuesday, July 17. The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 6.

Register to vote if you haven’t already—and then vote.

Because you can.

Michelle Mann is a staff writer for The Southeast Sun and Daleville Sun-Courier. The opinions of this writer are her own and not the opinion of the paper. She can be reached at (334) 393-2969 or by email at [email protected].