Imagine for a moment, if you were among a group of people participating in a peaceful march or protest and you were approached by a cop and told that you, alone, were not permitted to take part.
Or, let’s say you were among a group of people at some public place and an officer insisted on searching you without any reason and without your consent, but not the other people with you.
Can you imagine how you would respond if you were told that you could not buy that shotgun you had your eye on even though you met all the qualifications for purchasing it?
No doubt, you would be angry — and would have every right to be angry. Your rights in each case are protected by our Constitution. You would likely fight for those rights you were being denied.
Yet for millions of us, an important right that belongs to all Americans is not taken away from us, but given up voluntarily. That, too, is an outrage. Or at least, it ought to be.
We are talking about the right to vote.
Just 42 days away from the presidential election, there are millions of Americans who have chosen to surrender their voice in deciding who will be our next president, along with who will serve in other important offices.
Millions of us have failed to register to vote and many of those who are registered will choose not to go to the polls and exercise that right.
In doing so, they yield not only an important right, but a solemn obligation as citizens of our country.
It is particularly disturbing to note that those who have historically had to fight hardest for the right to vote exercise that right the least.
This is particularly true of black voters. While it is true that black voter turnout exceeded white turnout in the past two presidential elections, there is a real question as to whether those turn-out rates will remain high now that there is no black candidate on the presidential ticket.
There are people still living in our community today who were not allowed to register to vote by virtue of Jim Crow laws that made becoming a registered voter an impossibility. This is not ancient history we speak of. Has that history been forgotten already?
Regardless of race, voter turnout — even in presidential elections — is lower than it should be. Even in the elections where turnout is at its greatest, more than a third of registered voters don’t vote. Most years, that number is closer to half.
When that many Americans don’t exercise their right to vote, the idea that our government is “of the people” is seriously compromised.
Your voice matters if for no other reason than your rights matter.
Registering to vote is no great sacrifice of time or energy. You can register at the circuit clerk’s office during regular office hours Monday through Friday and on Saturday, Oct. 8 from 8 a.m. Until noon. There are other opportunities to register during various voter-registration events that will be held in the weeks leading up the registration deadline.
We urge all citizens to register to vote by the Oct. 8 deadline.
Then we urge you to go the polls on Nov. 8 to exercise that right and fulfill that duty.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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