vote. please, please, please vote

You live in a country that relies upon its citizens to participate. The absolute minimum you can do is vote. It is a privilege to live in America. You were lucky enough to be born in a country where you get to buy cheap goods made by little children in a country that will never allow their voices to be heard. You were lucky enough to be born in a country where the right to vote is guaranteed. 

The least you can do on Tuesday is show up and vote.

If you are of the opinion the system is fucked and by not voting you are making a statement?  You're not. The only statement you are making is that you do not understand the fundamentals of democracy. You make a bigger statement by showing up and writing in candidates. You are counted if you vote for anyone. 

If you are of the opinion that you don't have enough time, you're wrong. Think about how much time you spend watching tv or online or going out for drinks or cooking a meal at home. You have time on Tuesday.  The polls in Michigan are open from 7am-8pm. Go on your lunch break. Get up early and go before work. Talk to your employers and see if they'll be flexible.

If you do not know who or what to vote for spend 30 minutes doing a little bit of research.  http://publius.org/ has excellent resources on the Michigan proposals. 

If you don't believe voting in this election will make any difference, consider that in Michigan we vote for our Supreme Court Justices who are "non-partisan," but are nominated by political parties.  The outcome of these elections will directly affect you.  There are 2 separate Supreme Court election contests.  In one, Connie Marie Kelley (Dem), Bridget McCormick (Dem), Steven Markman (Rep), and Colleen O'Brien (Rep) are running for 2 spots.  Vote for 2 candidates. The top 2 will serve an 8 year term. In the other election, Shelia Johnson (Dem) and Brian Zahara (Rep) are running to fill a vacated spot that will be up in 2014. 

If you are unhappy with the lack of choices in local elections, pick candidates and write them in. Do not just vote for someone because they are the only one running. Write in your favorite city councilman, or just your favorite local leader-political or not. 

If you don't know where to go to vote, go to  http://www.publius.org/, enter your name and city and a map of your polling location will be provided.

Look at your sample ballot: here  https://webapps.sos.state.mi.us/mivote/ or here http://www.publius.org/. Familiarize yourself with it.  

Once you decide who and what you're voting for, write it down. Bring a cheat sheet in with you when you vote to make sure you're voting for who and what you mean to vote for. 

I know everyone has election fatigue. I know everyone is sick and tired of the partisan fighting and the ugly campaign ads. Tuesday is about so much more than that. Tuesday is about the future. Tuesday is about your duty as an American citizen to participate in choosing that future because you are fortunate to live in this flawed but great country where you are privileged enough to have the right to have your voice heard.

Vote. Please, please, please vote.