The first time I remember voting was in 5th grade for class president. Andrew was a really smart kid with a bright future and is probably a professor at Harvard or curing diseases.
His opponent was Jared. Jared was a spastic 5th grader who got stuck in a trashcan a year earlier and spoke about cheeseburgers during his presidential speech.
I voted for Jared. He was my friend, and having friends in power is a good thing.
Jared won, to the surprise of everyone, including Jared.
Since then, voting hasn’t been important to me. I voted in the last two Presidential elections, but that’s it.
Twitter, Facebook, athletes, celebrities etc. have all been pushing people to vote this November!
I don’t even know what we’re voting for. Midterms? I hated midterms in high school.
But after about the hundredth time hearing it, it occurred to me:
…maybe I should vote?
Politics as a whole usually leaves me discouraged so I don’t pay as much attention as I should.
I feel too uneducated on the candidates, positions that are up for grabs, and issues to vote for anything other than President. But I’d guess most people voting are as dumb as I am.
So this fall, I’m going to (try to) do my duty as a citizen and vote in whatever the hell people are telling me to vote in.
I almost write “Give me $10 and I’ll vote for whoever you want me to” but according Title 18, Part 1, Chapter 29, Page 597 of the U.S. Code, that’s illegal.
Give me advice to educate myself please.
The most important races in the country in the midterms are the Governor seats. This is important because in 2020 there will be a nationwide census. The census provides detailed information re: race, income, population density, etc. mapped across every micro-region of the country. This information is used (in one part) to “redistrict” the map of regions within states. The purpose of redistricting (and why it occurs after a census) is to ensure that the balance of political representation is commensurate with the population of a region. So, if 10,000 people move from one area in the state to another, redistricting is designed to ensure that there is a representative balance in the legislature. I.E. if Upper Dublin lost 40,000 people to Blue Bell, Upper Dublin should not have the same – or greater – level of representation as Blue Bell now. The basic idea is that 10 people won’t have the same “say” as 100 people. [This is why many people debate the Senate format. CA has nearly 40million people. North Dakota has 756,000 people. Each state is only awarded 2 Senators – with the same power.]
While redistricting seems like a fair and appropriate thing to do, it can be bastardized into a process called “gerrymandering”. This is the process of redrawing districts to minimize or maximize voting populations based on party affiliation or projected voter base. I.E. If you don’t think Hispanic voters will vote for your party, you redraw the district to encapsulate them – minimizing the reach of their vote. Since margin of votes has no value, it means less to lose one district by 80% if you took 30% of votes against your party out of other district races. It generally manifests itself along racial and party lines, empowered by the Census info.
In a substantial portion of states, the Governor has final approval of redistricting, which generally lasts quite some time. So, in the next 2 years (2018 + 2020 elections), the Governors elected will help to dramatically determine the voting regions of the country. This is vital because those new maps will aid in determining the House of Representatives for years and years to come, and the laws we live with.
So, go vote.