Over the past few election cycles, the confidence in the idea of one person one vote has been worn away by scandal, mechanical or electronic errors, and conspiracy theories. This lack of confidence has built a mistrust between average Americans of different ideological backgrounds. This mistrust has led to antagonistic verbal and physical confrontations between those whose ultimate goal is to live in a free society where personal beliefs can be a man's or woman’s moral compass. The loss of confidence is the poison that can kill our way of life.
Each individual should feel empowered by the ability to vote in an election, and that their vote has an actual effect on the overall decisions of law and the public servants who execute those laws.
There are many aspects of government that we as a people cannot affect. Voting should never be allowed to fall into that category.
As it stands today, many people in the United States have abdicated that solemn duty because of lethargy or distrust of voting mechanisms in use. It falls to us to take the initiative and participate in the polling process.
There are numerous ways for a concerned citizen to bolster confidence in the election process. By becoming a poll worker or an election inspector you are directly involved in the voting process. Another avenue of participation is to become a poll watcher. You can become part of the voting process and from personal experience be able to support the validity of the election. This can be accomplished by your affirming the polling was executed properly and was tallied according to the proper procedures. If any regularities are witnessed, you can attest that they were identified and properly investigated by the election officials and procedures were followed to allow or dismiss the votes in question.
As a poll watcher, you as an independent citizen can affirm the voting process and assure confidence in our elections and by extension that the will of the people was heard.
Trust is an easy thing to lose and is extremely hard to regain once lost. Please help us to regain trust in the election process.
To learn more please visit the web at https://www.michigan.gov/sos/elections/pollworker to learn more about the role which fits you the best and how and where to get the required training needed.
