At every election I have worked, there is always that one person. “Why isn’t *insert presidential candidate here* on this ballot?” they’d ask. It wasn’t so much a question as an accusation.
But I’d plaster on a smile and swallow every time before saying the script. “This is the general election, you won’t be voting for the president today, but I can show you the positions you will be voting for!” It was always infused with my best customer service sweetness to cover my frustration. After a few years, I realized a simple fact: not many people know about their state and local elections.
In high school, I worked at almost every election I could, helping to facilitate the voters and the ballots. Not only that, but I was lucky enough to have an internship with a county commissioner throughout my time in my small Pennsylvania town. This quickly put me on the path of local, state, and even federal politicians, and I learned something very quickly. In many ways, your local and state representatives have a larger influence on your day-to-day life than any federal leader. Yet, while the single presidential election that I worked was flooded with voters, each local and state election was only a slow trickle.
Naturally, because of the size and power of the presidential position, most political media surrounds the presidency. It is important that citizens’ voices are heard in the election of the position of president, but the American government is a multifaceted machine. It is intricate and complex and what keeps it going is the citizens who elect those to represent them. This doesn’t just mean the president. This means everything from your state’s senators to your local school board.
The upcoming midterm elections are the perfect opportunity for those who care about governance on every level. During the November elections, citizens will be voting for positions at the local, state, and federal levels, meaning that it has implications at each level of government.
Asbury students come from all over the country, and all over the world for that matter, but this used to make voting in the area of your legal address incredibly complicated. Now though, mail-in ballots are more accessible than ever. One Google search and you have all the paperwork you need to register.
The harder part of this equation, though, is education. As college students, we are busy. We are constantly consuming information and regurgitating it for exams and essays. So, we often don’t have much time for extra research. But if we care enough about the state of our communities and nation to raise concerns and complaints, we should be ready to use the voice we have to do something about it. Education does take time, but it also equips us to use the opportunity we are given to make an active change.
It takes work to invest in our communities and our state and federal government. Being an active and educated citizen is not easy. But we can’t constantly ask to see change and then neglect the chance we are given to initiate that change. The good news is that there’s time before the midterms. Time to read up on candidates, positions, and policies. Time to determine who you want to represent you as a citizen and why. If we’re given a voice in our government— let’s use it.
