​Happy Election Day United States of America! Many of you may have already voted. If you have, thank you! For those of you who have not, I have compiled a voter guide that is geared to help you decide how to vote on national and local issues alike. You may have just felt your sphincter tighten at the mention of a voting guide, especially if you receive mail at home, have seen a newspaper or the news within the last several months. Relax! I am not here to discuss candidates or propositions. If the candidates haven’t made their cases by now, there is nothing I can say that will add to your ability to decide. What I am here to offer are some things to consider as you vote on candidates, propositions and measures.

VOTE: If you have a mail in ballot sitting at home waiting to be marked and/or delivered, mark your ballot and drop in by your polling place or in a mailbox, whatever your jurisdiction allows.

If you are an in-person voter make the time to go to the polls and cast a vote that represents your social consciousness.

The United States Government doesn’t belong to the 1%! It belongs to the 99%. When only 10% of the 99% shows up, it makes the 1% look much larger, and intimidating than it is. “WE THE PEOPLE” are the first words of our constitution. “We” makes it obvious that the founders of this country never intended us to be complacent or apathetic about the governance of this land.  Currently our countries policies represent the apathy that has plagued America for at least a generation.  The time is long past for us to stand up where it matters, in the polls and vote for the representatives that best reflect what you want to see America become.

VOTE TO THE END OF YOUR BALLOT: not the end of your patience. While the candidates will only be in office for the duration of their term limits, the laws and propositions that are often ignored toward the bottom of the ballot will shape our local governance for years, even decades to come. This year in California we are voting to repeal laws that passed years ago. I believe these laws passed due to lack of votes, not lack of social conscience.

CONSIDER THE IMPACT OF YOUR VOTE: not just in the short term, for the next four or eight years, but consider the environmental, social and economic impact of your vote if it carries on THE NEXT SEVEN GENERATIONS that come after us. If we vote mindfully they will actually have a chance to live and be impacted by our votes.

VOTE EMPATHETICALLY: consider the citizens who will be impacted if your vote carries. Consider not, the statistics or propaganda that we see in the media relating to “them”, rather allow the faces of the one or two friends (or more) that you know of that these measures impact directly. See their faces, and remember their families. Consider their ability to live above the poverty line, afford necessary medication, to have access to the medicine of their choice, to be treated fairly and respectfully in the legal system. Vote to support equality and justice.

VOTE YOUR CONSCIOUS: It is easy to get caught up in rhetoric, media hype and elevated emotions. We have good cause to be alarmed at the state of the nation and the election in America this year. We also have good cause to be encouraged. The government doesn’t belong to the 1% it belongs to the 99%. I have for years seen a disparity between my peers say is important and what is happening in the government. If I would not trust a candidate to stay in my home as a guest, they did not get my vote. If I would not trust a candidate to babysit the children in my life or chaperone the teenage girls or boys in my life they did not get my vote. If I am more likely to see and acknowledge a person of color respectfully than they are, they did not get my vote. If they do not support social programs designed to create socio-economic equality for ALL people, they did not get my vote. These are some of the things that informed my vote based on my conscious. Perhaps this will help you to define what is important to you if you haven’t yet.

 

I know what I want to see from this election. My ballot has been marked and I will be delivering it between jobs today. (I am a permanent absentee voter due to illness, but absentee voting is available for all citizens here. If your jurisdiction does not offer absentee voting for all citizens, this is a good time to start working on ballot initiatives for the next election.)

REMEMBER: VOTE TO THE END OF YOUR BALLOT, NOT THE END OF YOUR PATIENCE.