An Open Letter to Those Considering Not Voting in the MidTerm Elections

Dear Those Considering Not Voting in The Midterm Elections,

I have a major plea.

Consider voting in the midterm elections.

This year more than anything.

This isn’t about Trump. This isn’t about any particular candidate. It is about our right as a society. This is about our world becoming the kind of world that we want it to be. This is about justice and peace and love and all of that cliché happiness stuff being able to actually happen.

I was just like you. I took it even a step further. I never gave the time of day to politics. It was pointless, useless and confusing as all get out and (insert explicative of choice), a waste of time.

And then, I got the opportunity to get involved. It made a huge difference. I thought I didn’t have anything to say about it. I thought I couldn’t be informed about it.

It then dawned on me. I don’t have to have it all together to have a discussion about what is important to me. I can talk about education, travel, family and more without having it all together. Why do I think politics is any different? Why do I think the midterm elections are any different than the presidential election (which I always vote for, by the way!)?

So, I brought my “open” self to the discussion. And I stopped making politics an “it.” From there, I got informed about what issues are important to me. The issues that politicians are discussing on the daily. I started with one issue: education.

I found that I want a better American for education. The way that we utilize that money and allocate it has an effect on every person who has kids, is considering having kids or ever was a kid. We all know what it was like to have a teacher without the resources when they’re pouring their lives into students. And, I studied education in school. So how about I start with that one issue? Just one.

It snowballed from there. If I need to know about education, I need to know about money. If I need to know about money, I need to know the laws surrounding money around education. If I need to know the laws, I need to determine which laws are beneficial to education and teacher support. The rabbit hole continues. Then, which candidates support the laws that I think are important? That’s who I vote for.

And, this is just on one issue. It wasn’t as complex as I thought. And, at the same time, it can be overwhelming. It can feel like a rabbit hole that doesn’t ever end. I don’t have the time for that. I don’t want to take the time for the midterm elections. It’s not worth it. That’s what I told myself before. And, I don’t listen to that anymore. I take on another issue. One at a time.

So I considered: what are the other issues that are important to me? I realized I could list those off in a heartbeat. What issues do I have an opinion about? Healthcare, taxes, oil & gas prices, human rights issues, workers rights, the list goes on. And now I see that I have an opinion about everything. With that opinion, what if I actually had the control to see the things that I want happening?

Well, I do.

It’s through the means of another person taking my place in Congress or Senate. It’s through the ability to determine which policies I think are important and telling my representative about it. I can’t be everywhere. So I better make sure someone who I want to be there, is. I vote for them in the midterm elections. They are in my place. They are me. They represent me.

That’s why I’m voting in these midterm elections this year.

That’s what voting is for me. I vote for my family. I vote for the rights of the people at my job. I vote for the rights of people who don’t look like me. I vote for immigrants. I vote for people who have worked so hard and had to pass a test and PROVE THEMSELVES to become a citizen. I’m lucky. I was born here. Why wouldn’t I vote?

The way I got involved was with simple things. I can call someone, can’t I? So, I started making calls for workers rights. I can walk and I can talk, right? So, I started knocking on doors about issues I ddn’t know anything about, policies that just passed that fired me up because I didn’t know anything about them. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into and I just showed up to political things. I had a trusted source and when I showed up, I learned. I learned more about issues that were important to me and I discovered what issues are the MOST important. I then started categorizing and prioritizing certain topics over others and the trusted source got bigger and bigger.

Then, the trusted source became me.

But, it was a step-by-step process. One step at a time. One conversation at a time. One issue at a time. One candidate at a time. Just one.

I can do that.

I seriously didn’t realize how much the midterm elections affect my day-to-day life.

The results of the midterm elections affect my life NOW.

It affects my workplace NOW.

It affects my school and student loans NOW.

So I beg you, if you’re reading this and considering not voting in the midterm elections.

Please, please, puhleeeeeeaase (!!!), vote.

You don’t have to have it all together or know it all like I thought I did. Just do your best.

One question at a time. One candidate at a time. One issue at a time.

Vote NOW for yourself. Vote NOW for your children. Vote NOW for your Congress at the state and federal level so that they represent and look like you.

Please.

With Care,

Your Fellow Citizen of the United States of America

Feature image is by Kayla Jones’ free download at www.powertothepolls.com.