Politically Speaking...
This Tuesday most of us will have an opportunity to exercise a very important right that some of you are likely to sit back and "take a pass on". For reasons known only to those who do not vote, some will take no action and will allow perfect strangers to decide as to who will run our government over the next several years. Although "voting" has been going on for quite some time and is critical to the credible operation of our government, a good many of us fail to show up, "low voter turnout" as it is referred to.
Before you sit back and let others decide your future, consider this.
Did you know that back when the constitution was written, only white men who owned property could draw the curtain and cast a vote. That meant that only about 10-16% of Americans decided how our country was to be run! By the mid 1800's the country decided that you did not have to own property to vote, but you still had to be white and it remained a male only event.
As time went on some bright bulb came up with this literacy test stuff, which targeted certain racial and religious groups. They eventually did away with that hair brained idea, but could you imagine such a rule in this day and age? In 1870 the 15th Amendment allowed former slaves the vote, but again, "males only". Then we had the so called "Poll Taxes" and yet another stumbling block and hurdle was erected.
It certainly appeared as if a select few wanted only a select few to have a say in how things would be run.
Well as you might expect, the women finally were tired of sitting it out and so in 1920 the 19th Amendment allowed them to have a say along with the men. Then 4 years later we invited the native American Indians to join in and not so long ago, 1964 to be exact, the 24th Amendment finally did away with the polling taxes in Federal elections.
The 26th Amendment, passed in 1971, let kids like me ( back then) cast a vote at the ripe old age of 18. I think I voted for some guy who was going to save the environment...Morris Udall???? (Does that sound right?)
He lost, but I had my say! What about you?
Are you going to have your say this Tuesday or will you let someone else make those decisions for you? If you cannot attend next weeks election, contact city hall and arrange to submit an absentee vote, either way, a lot of people seemingly fought very hard over the years so that you could have this critical input in how our government is run.
Understand, if you elect to sit back and allow others to make decisions for you, well...
THEN YOU GET WHAT 'YA GET!
For more information on voter history, please visit - http://www.infoplease.com/timelines/voting.html
A reminder to you all, if it does not seem right, it probably isn’t right. Call the police and let us figure it out, that’s what we get paid to do!
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