Make your vote count this November

We all have heard the arguments regarding why you should vote.

Here are a few that pop into my head like bumper sticker captions:  It’s your civic duty!  Every vote matters. It’s your right. It’s your responsibility. Your vote matters!

All true, but if you vote and are uniformed, have you truly exercised your right? Have you done your duty? It may matter in the final count, but does it matter to you?

About 15 years ago, when I was living in Portland, I went to vote at the polling station in my ward. While I was carefully filling at ovals with my black pen behind the curtain, the woman in the polling booth next to me asked me about one of the state referendum questions.

It was one of those questions that was written in a confusing manner. She said she wanted to vote for a specific outcome, but she didn’t know if that meant she should vote yes, or if she should vote no. I quickly mumbled my reply for fear of getting caught, and continued filling out my ovals.

Rewind to more than 25 years ago, when I was attending graduate school in Manakato, Minnesota. I went to the polls, as most graduate students in social sciences felt was their duty. I was pretty clear on who I wanted to vote for on the federal election, fairly clear for the state elections, but when it came to the local stuff – no clue.

There was a seat on the ballot I had never heard of and didn’t know how to vote - district soil and water supervisor – so I did a write-in vote for my favorite professor. I told a friend of mine what I had done, and she did the same. Maybe the soil and water supervisor isn’t the most critical elected position, but I shouldn’t have blown it off as unimportant. At the very least, I should have known it existed before I went to the ballot.

A few years ago, I was talking with an extended family member from out-of-state. He’s one of those people with strong opinions on the president, no matter who is in office. You know, one of those types who quotes political tweets by comedians and recommends podcasts that they think everyone must listen to.

If you are registered to vote and know absolutely who you are voting for, great. If you aren’t so sure or have no clue who to vote for, educate yourself. News organizations like this one will be running candidate profiles so you can get more familiar with who is running. Many candidates also have social media accounts of websites where you can get more information on them, their views, and the issues they prioritize.

Not sure who your local candidates are or what’s on your ballot? It’s not hard to find out.

The State of Maine has an online voter information lookup service and so does the League of Women Voters. Both are easy to use and will have information on local ballots once its available to them. You can also go to the city or town clerk’s page on your local municipality’s website, or go the old fashioned route and visit or call city or town hall.

Who or what you vote for is your choice. Please make sure you know who or what you are voting for.

Democracy Day 2022

Our newsroom doesn’t take democracy for granted, and we hope you don’t either. This column is part of a collaboration called Democracy Day, in which newsrooms nationwide are drawing attention to threats to democracy. We hope it reminds us all to value our democracy and work to protect it.

Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at newsdesk@sacobaynews.com.