Message from the voters

By Hank Silverberg                                     

Here we are on the verge of another election. A lot has been written about the message voters will send in Tuesday’s election. Will it be a rebuke to President Trump for his words and actions over the past 18 months?  Will it turn the country away from its tilt to the right? Will it make any difference on major issues like gun control, immigration or health care? Will it matter at all?      

 No one can answer that right now, nor will they be able to on Wednesday when we know most of the results. (mostly because many close races may take a week or so to play out).

But as the results come in, we can look at voter turnout to get some idea where America is going. Participation in this type of mid-term election has been historically low.  People tend to vote more in presidential elections than in the off years, even though the people we send to Congress or the statehouse have more impact on our everyday lives than the person who sits in the Oval Office.   

Turnout in the last mid-term in 2014 was a dismal 36.7 percent, the lowest in any national election since World War Two.    http://www.electproject.org/2014gg  That compares to 60 percent who turned out for the presidential election in 2016.http://www.electproject.org/2016g  Millennials turned out for the presidential election at a lower rate. About 50 percent of those 18-35 voted in 2016 even though the outcome will have more impact on their future.  https://civicyouth.org/an-estimated-24-million-young-people-vote-in-2016-election/

I polled the 39 students who attend the two communications courses I teach at Northern Virginia Community College.  The poll is by no means scientific. It’s a small sample in one part of just one state. I did not ask them who they were going to vote for, I just asked them if they intended to vote.  Most of them would classify as millennials under the current definition of 18-35.  

I was not surprised by the answers. None of them seemed enthusiastic about voting, but here is a basic breakdown.

Twenty-nine intended to vote. Of the ten who were not going to vote, one was a non-citizen and not eligible, four were eligible but not registered, three said they just didn’t feel motivated to vote, one had no clue there was an election coming up and lastly, there was one student who said, “Am I required to vote?” as if it was part of his grade for the course.  

This is by no means a put down on this group of students. From what I have been reading or hearing from candidates and the media it looks almost like the stereotype. 

For me it created a flashback to 1972, a presidential election at another critical time in our country 's history, similar to today.

The war in Vietnam had badly divided the country. Richard Nixon had an enemies list, the FBI was investigating war protesters including a few bomb throwers, and Vice President Agnew was campaigning around the country attacking the press.  

I spent part of my freshman year working at a very low level for the George McGovern campaign. It was my first and only foray into partisan politics, and I remember that miserable feeling when the results came back. Nixon won in a landslide. 

But here’s the point for me. My 18th birthday was two weeks AFTER the election and I was not eligible to vote that year. It was a frustrating experience to let others decide my future.  

As a journalist for the next 40 years I couldn’t get actively involved in politics. It was against the rules (Note to Fox News: it still is).  The only thing I could do was walk into a voting booth and express my preference in private. And I have never missed that opportunity whether it be a local, state or presidential election.   

My point? Most Americans don’t really think about the sacrifice many others made to acquire voting rights for all. 

The 15th Amendment, which guaranteed black men the right to  vote, came after a bloody Civil War that cost 600 thousand or more American lives.  Even then, it took battles in the streets before women won their right to vote in 1920 with the passage of the 19th

(A suffragette march Circa 1916)

Amendment.

There were more bloody protests in the 1950’s and 1960’s before the promise of the 15^th Amendment was guaranteed for people of color with the passage of the Voting Rights act of 1965.  

   Universal voting in the United States did not come quickly, nor did it come peacefully. And as we have seen just this month in Georgia and North Dakota, where a false fear of voter fraud has led to an attack on the rights of black voters and Native Americans. It is a battle that is not yet finished.  

So, if you are one of those indifferent about voting on Tuesday, please take a few minutes to read up on the Suffragette movement. Start with the hundreds of women who were arrested for protesting to get the vote between 1910 and 1920,  who then went on hunger strikes while in prison. Then look up what happened at the Pettis Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on March 7th, 1965. There you will learn how so many people gave up so much simply for the right to step into that voting booth.  The right to vote can easily be taken away from you if you don't exercise it. 

   ( I will be updating this blog on Wednesday after the vote) 

     (Your comments and suggestions are welcome. ) 

    (Best way to get a signed copy of my books? E-mail me at hsilverberg.gmail.com for details. "The Campaign" is also available at hanksilverbergbooks.com or Amazon.com)