I got my absentee ballot yesterday afternoon, filled it out last night, and took it to my post office this morning. My day is a success.
If you’re voting by mail, don’t delay. Before Trump sabotaged the postal service it took 3 days to mail a letter and have it received anywhere else in the Twin Cities area. Now it is 6 days at a minimum. Who knows what it will be like later on.
I am extremely lucky to live in Minnesota with its active political culture. Minnesotans vote. In 2018, of the 10 US districts with the highest voter turnout, Minnesota had 3 and I live in one, District 5 which always has high voter participation. Minnesota’s Primary in August had the highest poll numbers in over 50 years.
This is the first time in my life that I won’t stand in a line waiting to vote. I consider voting a sacred act. It’s a moment when I feel a special closeness to my fellow Minnesotans; my fellow Americans. Typically, November 3rd, is wet and cold, occasionally bitterly so. Yet, you would have found me patiently standing in a long line, chatting with my neighbors. Around me were hundreds of people, quietly going about their business, fulfilling their most important duty as a citizen of the United States. Voting. This year, I’ll miss the that sacred union. But it won’t stop me from doing my duty.
I know that Minnesota is not perfect. It shares the same history of bloodshed, intolerance, and exploitation as the rest of the US. There is much work to be done here. But, I’m hopeful because Minnesota’s history also contains a tradition of progressive ideals that value people above profit, concern for others, and conserving Nature, protecting it from destruction. Sometimes we loose our way but, eventually, we come back on course.
Once again, it is time to get back on course. However, returning to the old normal is impossible. We must go beyond simply repairing the damage that has been done. Paradoxically, the destruction caused by Trump and his fellow traitors provides us a unique opportunity to build a newer, better United States. We can address the curse of racism, rampant greed and corruption, and the wanton desecration of our planet.
Also, let us not forget the over 205,000 Americans who have died because of Trump and his Administration’s callus disregard for the safety of the American people. Remember the dead when you vote.
Make it clear to those who are working hard to rob us of our rights, that Democracy Lives and the Old Ways Are Dying.
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