On Voting
September 30, 2009
A couple of years ago I took a year off from grad school. I returned to my home state of Minnesota and worked as an AmeriCorps volunteer in central Minneapolis, helping poor adults improve their computer skills so that they had a better chance of getting jobs. I lived at my mother and stepfather’s house, my badass New York cat terrorized my mother’s two cats, I read some books, and I did some small good in the world.
When I moved back to Minnesota, I registered to vote as soon as I could. I had previously only voted in New York. But one of the ways you could meet AmeriCorps’ “civic engagement” requirements was to vote. So one night in November, I bundled up, walked about a mile to my polling place, and cast my votes for school board. I’d read up on their positions in the local paper, and then made my final decisions when I was in the booth. I was initially a little confused because Minnesota uses optical scan balloting, not the big old lever-based machines, but otherwise, all went well.
The following February I realized I could get even more “civic engagement” points if I got involved in the political party of my choice. So I went to my precinct caucus. My mom and I sat around with ten or so of our immediate neighbors, all of whom were of the same political party, and we each spoke about the issues that were concerning us, as well as the candidates we’d like to endorse. At the end of the night, the group voted in some representatives to send to the next level–the caucus for our state senate district. My mom and I were in that group. She wanted to support instant run-off voting. I was most interested in promoting LGBT equity.
A few weeks later, my mom and I went to our senate district caucus. We hung out with other likeminded folks from our suburb and a few others in a big school cafeteria and discussed the candidates and policy positions we would like to endorse. After everyone was able to say their piece, people began forming groups–“Candidate X for US Senate with a focus on gay rights” in one corner, “Candidate Y for governor with a focus on immigration reform” in another corner. You went and joined the group that most reflected your interests. Then the groups lobbied each other and merged–until they had enough members to nominate one delegate to the next level. From that, my mom emerged as an alternate to her group, and I was the delegate from mine. This meant that we both got to go to both the congressional district caucus and the state party convention.
This was in Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, currently represented by Keith Ellison. At the time, however, there were ten candidates vying to secure the party’s endorsement for the seat. The most liberal district in Minnesota, it was widely anticipated that whoever garnered the left’s nomination would get the seat. (It did end up being a three-way race in the general election–Minnesota being a state where third-party candidates are often viable–but even so, Ellison secured a very solid majority in the end.)
So all ten candidates for the nomination called to talk to me, me personally, about why they were so awesome. As the race got close, one even sent his wife over to the house.
Now, I had garnered my status as delegate by joining a caucus group for a particular congressional candidate–and I had agreed that my alternate, as an extremely fervent supporter of that candidate, could take my place at the congressional caucus, leaving me to go to the state convention and make decisions on U.S. senate and gubernatorial nominations. So I wasn’t going to choose the next congressional candidate. But even knowing this, the campaigns reached out to me! Me, personally!
Keith Ellison secured the party’s nomination at that congressional caucus. By the time it happened, it wasn’t completely unexpected, but it was still a Very Good Thing. This left only the state convention–where as delegates we would choose candidates for governor, Secretary of State, and other elected positions within the state of Minnesota.
So my mom drove us down to Rochester (MN. Home of the Mayo Clinic). We sat at a big table on the floor of the local convention center, with all the other delegates from our district. (And other tables full of people from across the state–the space was huge.) And for two and a half days, we heard position speeches and rallied for candidates, but we primarily just voted. We voted on every last piece of the party platform, and then we voted on candidates. There were three viable candidates for governor. (Voting went on for hours on that one.) At night, there were parties hosted by various constituencies (I had a very nice, if slightly inebriated, conversation with the mayor of Saint Paul), and in the mornings, various interest groups met to hear from the candidates on their specific issues. By the end of the convention, we had candidates for U.S. senate and for governor, we had an official party platform (it included my mother’s big one, instant run-off voting), and my mom and I had had a decisive say in the future of the state.
All because we went to a meeting, because I wanted to get civic engagement “points” for my national service gig.
So the point is this: I vote. I know it’s been made out to be corny, that civic engagement seems passé, that it’s easy–so very easy–not to take the time to inform yourself on the candidates and their issues. But I vote. Every time. And so should you. (I was Voter #4 in my ED yesterday!)
I voted yesterday. Over the weekend I read the various candidate web sites, as well as the endorsements of the NYT, the Working Families Party, and my union (PSC-CUNY). I made my decisions. Then on Tuesday morning I walked down the street to the local Catholic school, greeted the guy who works my ED every single darn time, and voted. (Then I went to teach, and from there to Macaulay to film some video.) Why wasn’t that the norm yesterday? Comptroller and public advocate are not small jobs–we should all be considering who to vote for!
Besides, the more invested you are in the democratic process, the better position you’re in to be able to improve that process. This goes double for local elections. You can make an immediate difference in the way this city runs. You can improve this place. You can make things happen.
Please vote on November 3rd.
It Was Important to Vote In the Primary, Said the People Who Did [NYT]
