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The
2018 Supreme Court decision in Husted v. A. Philip Randolph
Institute compounded these efforts by giving all states the
green light to purge registered voters from their rolls.
Making matters worse, lawmakers have consistently neglected
their responsibility to listen and actively engage with the
African-American community. This undermines trust in
government and stifles voter participation in one of the
most important rights given to the citizens of the United
States.
There has been a continued effort to register Americans to
vote both locally and nationally. Overall, registration has
been successful, however, when it comes time to vote, most
“newly registered” people do not vote.
So why this reluctance to vote? Elections serve very
important functions in our political system. First,
they are the way we select most of our leaders. Second,
they are a kind of public referendum on the incumbents and
their policies, revealing public approval and disapproval.
They may also reveal public desires for change. Third,
they are a way of involving the people in the government.
They keep people tied to the system without letting them
interfere in daily decision making. As the nation outgrew
the ‘town hall” method of electing politicians, they
switched to representative democracy. In this system, most
decisions are made by officials who are elected at regular
intervals by the people and who represent the people when
they make decisions for them.
As we look into our past and the struggles we have
encountered to obtain the right to vote, the question
becomes why are eligible voters so reluctant to vote. After
all, if those in power fought that hard (and continue to
fight) to keep us from voting, there must be something
very important to the voting process.
Wealthy, college-educated, older whites vote at the rate of
91 percent, whereas young, poor, minority group members who
did not finish high school are estimated to vote at the rate
of 22 percent. The clear implication here is that the
successful white middle-class are the power brokers in the
electorate and their interests get a disproportionate amount
of attention from politicians.
So why do people vote? Based on the outcome from the 91
percent who is estimated did vote, the answer speaks
for itself.
Does non-voting matter? The answer is YES! If those
dissatisfied with the elected officials running the country,
voting at the primary level to elect the candidates who best
reflect our interests will eventually place those candidates
at higher levels in government and insure the voting process
is more fully utilized to our advantage.
Become an NAACP member - $30/adult; $15/youth
annually and receive a Crisis magazine. Join our meetings
every second Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. The October, November and
December meetings will be held at the African American
Legacy Project building, 1326 Collingwood.
View our website at
www.naacptoledo.org. Call us at 419-214-1551. |
