Elaine Harris Spearman Commentary: Americans need to make every vote count
Voters who recently voted in the runoff election in Gadsden for a different mayor and several City Council members cannot rest on their laurels. We are rushing headlong into the November mid-term elections.
There is a lot at stake across the country, and Alabama is included. It is scary to think about what Gadsden voters will do when fewer than 6,000 people bothered to vote for the leadership of the city.
It is hard to get worked up about some issues when you look at the number of people who are registered and eligible to vote who bother to do so.
While there are efforts to curb voter access, voters still are able to vote early by voting absentee. There are a number of reasons that a voter is eligible for an absentee ballot.
In the November election, voters are not required to vote a straight party ballot. They can vote for the candidate best suited for the position being sought.
There are a number of constitutional amendments on the Nov. 8 ballot; one involves Alabama’s state constitution itself.
Wrongful information has been circulated indicating that the amendment has reference to slavery, warning people of its possible consequences. The amendment proposes to “arrange the constitution in proper articles parts and sections, removing racist language.”
This has to be the wording that is being misconstrued and could have a negative effect on the average person voting. None of the other proposed amendments have any reference to “slavery” or “racism.”
There are sharp disagreements about everything you can think of across this country. We express what we support with our vote. There should be no attempts to discourage people from voting by creating “alternate realities.” The American public has had enough, one would hope.
The November election sets the table for the next two years. Although I have not been a fan of Gov. Kay Ivey, she seemed to be the lesser of the three evils. She very recently appointed Lacy Robinson to the Civil Service Board, which was doing the right thing for the residents of Gadsden.
If Gov. Ivey is re-elected, we would hope to see more Gadsden inclusion at the state level and more even-handed appointments at the local level.
It matters who the people send to the Senate and the House of Representatives. Equally as important are our state elected officials. The state-level offices are being sought across the country to control how Americans vote and how their votes are counted.
All of this voting leads up to the main event: casting a vote for the President of the United States. Dear God, Ron DeSantis is using poor people risking everything for a better life as a political props. It is tantamount to human trafficking.
Disgraced former President Donald Trump took classified documents to a private golf club, and claims that, “you can declassify just by saying its declassified.” A president can carry that out “even by thinking about it.”
And you don’t vote? You cannot see the danger that all of America is facing?
Maureen Dowd wrote a commentary for the New York Times wherein she stated, “Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, long entwined, continue on vile parallel paths; They would rather destroy their countries than admit they have lost.” Putin and Trump, dragging the world down with them.
Let’s make every vote count. We need the 14,000 non-voters to get on board! Think of all the young people that you know.
It became crystal clear at the Veterans Hospital recently. Men ages 18 to 25 years of age, U.S. citizens and immigrants (documented and undocumented) residing in the U.S. and its territories must register for Selective Service.
These “young men,” not women, “remain in a database for national emergencies requiring a future rapid expansion of our Armed Forces.”
Who the president is matters.
Elaine Harris Spearman, Esq., a Gadsden native, is an attorney and is the retired legal advisor to the comptroller of the City of St. Louis.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Elaine Harris Spearman looks at the political scene in Alabama, U.S.
