I thought about something I read (I think it was in the
textbook) about when we have Election Day, and I wondered why we would have it
in the late fall when a good part of the country is dealing with foul and often
dangerous weather conditions. It makes you wonder why we don’t have our
election during the time of year, like say spring, when people don’t mind
standing in a line for a couple of hours to do their patriotic duty. The
weather is nicer then; most voting places are at schools, so you can take the
kids and make an afternoon of it. And why have it on Tuesday? That’s the middle
of the week (practically) and most people have to be at work (except the 12+%
of us who are unemployed). So I wondered who picked these dates.
I learned that when our Framers first set up our voting
schedule they had to consider the agrarian society they were dealing with. Most
people lived on farms and had to travel some distance to get to their polling
places. They couldn’t leave during planting or harvest time so November was the
best time before the heavy snows hit. It also meant they couldn’t hold it on
Monday since no one could travel on Sunday (a day of rest and all). So that
meant everyone traveled on Monday and could vote on Tuesday. They would
probably then spend the evening in the pub after the polls closed while the votes
were tallied, celebrated or consoled themselves with ale on Wednesday, slept
off the ale on Thursday, traveled home on Friday, caught up on the farm
chores on Saturday to be ready to sit in the pew on Sunday. Realistically
speaking, it could take a whole week for someone to cast a vote in the 1800’s.
Fortunately for us, it’s not that challenging anymore. Most
of us have a polling place within a few blocks of our home, and can stop by on
the way home from work. Sure there might be a bit of a line but it’s an
opportunity to get to know your neighbors. Many of us have the option of mailing
in an early ballot as well. In any case it doesn’t take nearly as long as it
did in the early years of our Republic. I would say we are truly blessed with
the technologically advanced system of we have for casting our vote, hanging
chads and all.
And yet according to ABC news, who got their information
from the Center for the Study of the American Electorate, “2012 voter turnout
(was) at 57.5% of all eligible voters, compared to 62.3% who voted in 2008 and 60.4%
who cast ballots in 2004.” One hundred twenty-six million people did vote and a
whopping ninety-three million eligible voters did not! Shame on them!
http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/national/election-results-2012-voter-turnout-lower-than-2008-and-2004-report-says
I agree, shame on them.
ReplyDeleteThe key to Mr. Obama's win of a second term was the high turnout of the Democratic voters at the polls. Where were the rest? Maybe the outcome could have been different.
I'm not happy with the results. I don't know about you.
I lived in a communist country for the first 22 years of my life and I'm scared of Mr. Obama's socialist tendencies...Business and competition are keys to prosperity for all, not free handouts.
Who is going to pay for all the handouts when so many are unemployed and the prospects are bleak? The system is going to collapse eventually. I'm worried about the future of my two children and this country.
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ReplyDeleteYour editorial was very interesting, I liked that you gave a history of the voting system and time of year everything happens. However, with technology comes freedom to be lazy. With an unending supply of information in any direction many people find that if they don't want to be involved in politics or their immediate community, they really have the freedom now to not be. Comparatively, in the time of the 1800s, there wasn't much of anything else going on that wasn't inside a family or that family's community. There was no privilege of escape that us modern americans have so easily. If we want to be involved and educated we reach for it. If we want to be passive and entertained only grazing occasionally upon the news of the day, then so be it. I didn't vote and I know I should have put more effort forth to do so. I wrote an additional post today about some news I heard regarding a wife and her husband's conflict dealing with the election. It wasn't an assignment but I was helpless against it as I once knew this couple, so I had to write about it. If you have a moment - take a look. Thanks.
ReplyDeletehttp://quinntessentialview.blogspot.com/2012/11/taking-politics-personally.html