Yes we’ve all heard it. The often repeated excuse for not voting. Sure we can site the political primary process with the delegates selecting the party’s nominee. We can site the presendential election and the electoral college process. Kudos!
Now lets redirect from national to local and state elections. In my opinion, state and local elections are the most important. To illustrate why, I’ll use Ferguson Missouri as an example. The city is nearly 70% Black. Yet in 2014, only one of their six council members is Black. In their 2013 municipal election, 6% of Black voters actually voted compared to 17% of white voters. However, after the death of Mike Brown, the April 2015 municipal election yielded a 19% Black voter turnout. Ferguson made history by electing three Black council members! That may seem like a small victory but when you understand what a city council does, it’s actually a huge victory.
If you say that example isn’t compelling enough, no problem. I only ask that you visit the gravesites of those who died for us to have the right to vote, kneel down and spit on their tombstone or grave marker. That’s crazy disrespectful right? Well, that’s essentially what you’re doing when you don’t vote. Is voting the end all be all? Absolutely not. However, not voting gives us little basis to complain about what is or isn’t happening in our community. But y’all don’t hear me tho!
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