Wanted: American Voter!

It is election time once again and America is looking for all Americans that are eligible to vote!  This year we will be choosing someone for the highest office in the United States, President and Vice President along with other offices.  It is so very important to exercise your right, your duty, your privilege to vote!
  
The Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776, but the US Constitution was not adopted until 1788.  This granted the state's power to establish standards for voting.  Unfortunately, only Anglo-Saxon male property owners who were at least 21 years of age were given the right to vote.  Over time many people would fight to change who could vote.  Despite the ratification of the 15th Amendment in 1870 granting Black men the right to vote, laws were enacted in the states to suppress their vote.  The Voting Rights Act in 1965 enforced the 15th Amendment and made it illegal to impose restrictions that denied Black people the right to vote.

After a lengthy and difficult struggle by the Women’s Suffrage Movement, women were finally given the right to vote when the 19th Amendment was enacted in 1920.  The Indian Citizen Act of 1924 gave Native Americans the right to vote.  Chinese citizens were given the right to vote when the Chinese Exclusion act was repealed in 1943.  And not until 1970, only 54 years ago, was the voting age lowered to 18 by President Nixon in reaction to the large number of 18–20-year-olds fighting in Viet Nam.  President Reagan made it easier for people with disabilities and the elderly to vote.  Voting has changed many times during the history of our nation each time embracing more and more Americans.  During the history of our nation more than 1.1 million Americans have been in killed in 12 major conflicts to ensure our right to vote.

Your vote matters!  One vote added to another vote added to another vote and another and another and so on creates a more meaningful, louder, and more powerful voice.   Your vote is your chance to be heard, to stand up for what you believe in, it lets politicians know how you feel about the job they are doing.  Be an informed voter, research your candidate.  Let it be known that campaign ads can be misleading and are not always factual.  Campaign ads on TV are not required to be factual because the 1st Amendment protects all speech including political speech.
 
Your vote is especially important in local elections where elections are won and lost by just a few votes.  In 2022 there were 9 elections that were decided by less than 500 votes.  District 3B was decided by 33 votes and District 3A by only 15 votes.
 
There are many ways to vote in Minnesota.  You can vote early, vote on election day, vote by absentee ballot, or vote on campus.  All information about voting can be found on the Secretary of State website.
 
My hope, my request, my demand is that you vote.  Vote to honor all that have fought and worked and died so that we have the right to vote!

Debra Scheibel
Longville, MN