National Voter Registration Day
By Quest Dobbelaire, 9/24/19
The United States Constitution guarantees every citizen the right to vote and this Tuesday, September 24th, marked National Voter Registration Day, the national holiday promoting the exercising of this right. By registering to vote during the third week of September, this allows the legal registry plenty of time for submissions to go through before the local, state, and federal elections are held in November.
Despite no state elections are being held this year the 2020 Presidential Candidate Run is in full swing with Democratic Debates building great anticipation and Democratic Primaries proceeding in November to select a candidate to run against current President and Republican candidate Donald Trump. Keep in mind, to participate in primary elections, you must be registered to the corresponding party.
While the opportunity to pick a candidate that best represents their citizens’ respective values and goals may not be unique to the United States, the freedom to choose legislative officials through democratic vote is widely considered is one of the building blocks values of American culture. This right to representation if subject to taxation harken backs to the ideals that provoked American colonists to seceded from the imperialist monarchy of Great Britain.
Although throughout history groups of Americans have been unjustly denied their right to exercise their ability to vote, several amendments to the Constitution that have been placed to protect American suffrage based on race (Amendment XV), gender (XIX), and age (XXVI).
Though the official holiday of voter registration has passed it is important to not only see the opportunities available to us but to also exercise the freedoms we have access to in this country.
Editor’s Notes: Graphic created by Tony Voss