Get up from your desk, or your bed, or your couch, or wherever you are reading this, and go vote. Right now. Don’t comment first; just go do it.
You don’t have to wait until next Tuesday. Early voting is underway in D.C. and runs through Friday, Nov. 4. In Maryland, it goes through Thursday, Nov 3. Qualified voters can also vote absentee, in person, in Virginia through Saturday, Nov. 5.
Early voting records are already rising left and right, which – make no mistake – is categorically a good thing for our democracy. The more people who vote, the more our country’s leaders and lawmakers actually reflect its people’s priorities, beliefs and values.
There has already been enough ink spilled about candidates and issues and scandals both real and fabricated this election cycle to last us all a lifetime. But there’s only one thing left to do as a patriotic American – go vote.
No matter your family background, you very likely have ancestors who worked, suffered and maybe even died for your right to exercise your choice. Whether you’ve been afforded your freedom through the Revolutionary War, the 14th or 19th Amendments, or simply by America’s open, welcoming arms embracing your family from a land where they previously had no voice, you owe it to those who fought for the rights you enjoy to exercise them.
Did you already vote early or absentee? Thank you. Feel pride in taking part in your own future. With all due respect, the rest of this column doesn’t apply to you.
If you didn’t register – what were you thinking? Thankfully, if you live in D.C., you can still register at the polls on Election Day, so you have no excuse. So go vote!
And let’s just get this whole election-rigging nonsense out of the way. There are two very good Twitter threads that help explain why the very thought of rigging a national election in the United States in 2016 is entirely insane and without merit.
The first is by a former Republican (now independent) inspector of elections. The other is by a law firm with expertise in elections and campaigns whose attorneys have largely represented Republican legislators and Super PACs.
Now that we’ve covered that, it’s time to go to your local precinct. But when you do, let’s talk about something you shouldn’t do: Do not try to threaten or coerce anyone else into not voting, or into voting the same way as you. That is not only un-American; it is voter intimidation, a felony offense punishable by a fine or up to a year in jail.
Likewise, for those of you who have already voted, don’t feel the need to tell everyone who you voted for and why in the comments. Really, it’s not necessary, other than for your own desire for validation. Trust that you’ve given your personal input to our democratic republic the time and attention that it deserves, and that you don’t need to scream your moral superiority for having done so from the rooftops of the internet.
If you still haven’t voted, and you’re still reading this, what are you waiting for? Go now! None of your rambling Facebook arguments or complaints have any legs to stand on unless you’ve participated in choosing our representative government. If you don’t vote, you’re just the proverbial old man yelling at the cloud, and there’s nothing sadder or more useless than that. So go vote!
We vote on everything in our society, from inconsequential Twitter polls to which high school football matchup we’ll cover this week. Why wouldn’t you want to exercise your right to vote for something that actually makes a difference in the world?
And yes, your vote does matter. Remember that we aren’t just voting on which person will help govern and represent our nation to the world for the next four years. We’re also voting for senators and governors, members of Congress, mayors, statewide propositions, even local ballot measures.
In Virginia Mark Herring defeated Mark Obenshain in the 2013 race for state Attorney General by a margin of just 165 votes out of better than 2.2 million cast, prompting a recount.
In 2015, the Ward 8 Council special election in D.C. was decided by 78 votes, with LaRuby May edging out Trayon White.
It’s been a good while, but twice in presidential history the margin between presidential candidates in Maryland has been almost imperceptible. In 1904, Theodore Roosevelt carried the state by 51 votes. Seventy-two years earlier, Henry Clay won the state by exactly four votes over Andrew Jackson.
If everyone who ends up reading this column voted instead of staying home, who knows what change it might effect? But nothing will actually get done by simply reading or commenting on it. So go, right now. If you hurry, maybe I’ll see you down at the polls.
Noah Frank is the WTOP.com digital sports editor and an American whose vote counts exactly the same as everyone else’s.
