Get Up, Get Out, Get Your Vote On!

“But let Justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never failing stream” Amos 5:24

Did you know that voting only takes minutes?   To register to vote takes even less time.  You can do it with the click of a button on your smartphone.  Did you also know that for many people the right to vote that we are experiencing today, took decades of sacrifices?   As we look to election day (November 5th) less than a month away, I am reminded of the many challenges  people of color went through to cast their ballots.

Voter suppression laws were created as a system to suppress minority votes while allowing whites the privilege to vote.  Many states were able to use literacy tests, poll taxes, state rights and even some civic  exams.  Much of the political suppression was tied to a lack of systemic education and economic inequalities.

As for the literacy test, they were mostly questions about history, civics and specific clauses in the Constitution, making them difficult for the average person.  One tactic that was used to prevent Black people from voting during the Jim Crow era was the so-called jelly bean test.  Some registrars would ask prospective Black voters to guess the number of jelly beans in a jar. A sure failure for voting.  We no longer have to guess the amount of jelly beans in a jar, but there are other challenges created to suppress voters even today. Closing polling locations at the last minute makes it more difficult to find your poll and cast your vote.  Targeting minorities and students with restrictive ID laws, and attacking our voting rights with surgical precision, even undermining the Postal Service in the run up to an election that is going to be dependent on mailed-in ballots so people don’t get sick.

To be able to vote in America was a long struggle.  Women were jailed and beaten.  Some individuals were left for dead, other’s murdered, still others had dogs turned on them along with fire hoses.    Because the struggle has been real and painful it is time to take advantage of the voting opportunities that we do have.

• Encourage young people just turning 18 to register and vote.
• Early voting is still possible.  Encourage families and friends to go early rather than miss the opportunity.
• Take individuals who are challenged physically or those who don’t drive to the polls.
• Take off from work at your job on voting day, so you can work to help others get to and from various polls.
• Be an instrument of peace with your community.
• It’s your civic duty to vote.  Make sure you cast your own vote on November 5th.

Get up, Get out, Get your Vote on.  I’m counting on you.

xoxo

Michelle Obleton