Newspaper Page Text
The True Citizen, Wednesday, November 18, 2020 — Page 5A
Michael N. Searles
There is an age-old response
repeated many times, “I don’t
vote because my one vote does
not matter.” There are multiple
reasons for this attitude. When
thousands or millions of votes
are cast, it is hard to imagine
that a single vote has much
significance. In many cases,
our one vote is lost in a vast sea
of ballots. Another argument
often raised is “I voted and my
candidate won but my life cir
cumstances did not improve.”
It is hard to say that casting
a vote will dramatically change
one’s life, but there are many
things an elected official can
do that directly affect you. A
policy change can mean that
a program once open is now
closed. There may not be a
clear and identifiable connec
tion between your vote and
a policy change; however,
when we vote we make a dif
ference. Some of the recent
postcards encouraging us to
vote included a little notation:
“You are an average or above
average voter.” This means
the voter group that sent this
message examined the records
and discovered the frequency
of your vote. In other words,
the person’s voting record was
publicly available. If someone
wanted to achieve a politi
cal outcome, the voters most
likely to be targeted would be
those who actively participate
in the political process. Even
when our vote does not prevail
in Burke County, it has sig
nificance in a state or national
election.
In Burke County, President
Donald Trump received 51.35
percent of the vote while Joe
Biden received 47.94 percent.
If Burke County stood alone,
President Trump would have
won Georgia. However, we do
not stand alone. Our votes tally
with votes cast across the state
that gave Biden a 14,149 vote
lead. Our votes matter because
every vote counts.
For some there is a belief that
voting was over on November
3 and it is just a matter of do
ing a recount. However this
year, it is not the case. There
are several elections where no
candidate received 50% of the
DOES ONE VOTE MATTER?
vote and requires a run-off.
Once in a blue moon a state has
two senatorial run-offs at the
same time. The likelihood that
the election of those senators
would determine the control of
the U.S. Senate also is equally
rare. However, this is the situ
ation in which the citizens of
Georgia find themselves.
If two Democrats are elected,
the Senate will have a Demo
crat majority and if the two
Republican candidates are
elected, Republicans will re
main in control. If Democrats
prevail, it will open the door
for a people-centered legisla
tive session.
Many of the complaints over
the last four years have been
that legislation passed in the
House never received consider
ation in the Senate. The nearly
600 pieces of legislation passed
by the House included bills to
reduce the cost of prescription
drugs; to protect voting rights;
to protect DREAMERS; and
to gradually raise the federal
minimum wage never got a
vote on the Senate floor. These
and other pieces of legislation
were deemed less important
than the 318 Senate roll call
votes to approve the Presi
dent’s nominees to the courts
and executive branch. There
probably were many citizens
who voted and did not realize
their representative refused
to give popularly supported
legislation any consideration.
Votes do matter in the kind of
government we get. How many
Georgians think the closing of
rural hospitals is a good idea?
Yet, Georgia Republicans will
not extend Medicaid even
though the cost is minimal.
The federal government pays
100 percent of the cost for the
first five years and then 90
percent of the cost after the
five years. There are Georgians
who have suffered or even lost
their lives because of the lack
of local medical assistance. If a
sizable number of voters went
to their legislators and said,
“We will no longer support
you unless you pass Medicaid
expansion” we would see a
change. Our vote matters and
how we use the power of the
vote also matters. The next
time someone says, “My vote
doesn’t matter,” emphatically
say, “Yes it does!”
I wasn’t planning on writing
this until next week for our
Thanksgiving issue, but after
dealing with unpleasantries
over the past several days, I
needed a pick-me-up.
Here are just a few things I
am so very thankful for:
Running water, electricity
and a solid, clean roof over
my head.
Combread.
Ankle length pants and jeans.
Laughing so hard it causes
Diana Royal
THANKFUL FOR
physical pain. Crying yourself
to sleep and waking up the
next day feeling restored and
refreshed. Knowing that some
one always hears your prayers.
Books. Small books and tall
books. Thin books and fat.
Hardcover. Paperback. Fic
tion. Nonfiction. Biographies.
Mysteries. Pictures. Poems.
The smell of old paper.
Chubby toddler hands and
sticky kisses. Those hand
picked yellow “flowers.”
“To Ms. Royal.”
“Can we have candy today?”
“I missed you.”
Vivid dreams and long naps.
Feeling someone’s presence
when you’re all alone.
Sharpie pens. Gel pens. Pa-
permate everything. Hole-
punchers and thumbtacks.
Hand sanitizer. Teacher work
days. Playgrounds. Prayer in
school.
Buying Broadway in Mo
nopoly. Karaoke. Road trip car
games. Road trips. Traveling.
Airplane window seats and
night flights. GPS.
Live music and guitar riffs
and drum solos and printed
lyrics. Jazz. Gangstarap. Clas
sic country. Jewel and Eazy-E.
Nirvana.
West coast sunsets.
Strawberry pepper jelly.
Squishm allows.
Haunted houses.
Diet Dr Pepper.
Hugs.
Plump, slow-falling rain
drops. No humidity. Good hair
days and a great hair brush.
(Foxybae!)
Proper grammar, intelli
gence, people who listen and
don’t pass harsh judgement.
Human rights.
My family. My daughter.
Heaven and the promise of
eternal life. Reunions.
Love. Compassion. Empa
thy. Kindness.
And to you, for reading this.
Happy Thanksgiving. Count
your blessing and be thankful.
Lively
As I obliged her, I gazed out
into the woods and exulted in
the beauty of the place I call the
wooded enclave. I felt a feeling
of peace and joy that not even
the prospect of Washington DC
returning to a swampy state
could dampen at that moment.
"Little girl, do you know how
lucky you are that you were
dumped out by my house?"
She didn't answer.
Continued from 4A
She'd fallen asleep.
Which is exactly what I'd
like to do right this minute,
except that I need to write 800
words and I have no clue what
to write about.
No ideas.
No thoughts.
No inspirations.
Oh well, maybe something
will come to me.
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