Tiffany’s Take: VOTE

Fans in the US, it’s time to register to vote! Tiffany has Takes on the importance of casting your vote, regardless of your party affiliation.

This is a little different from my usual takes. Usually, I’m explaining, ranting, raving, cursing, and whatever else on whatever topic in wrestling has gotten my attention, however, this time, I’m not going to talk about wrestling, I’m going to talk about the need to vote in this year’s general election, if you are a reader who is a citizen of the United States of America and 18 or older.

Last week, the Democratic Party has been holding their National Convention, and they’ve nominated former Vice-President Joseph R. Biden and Senator Kamala Harris as their nominees to be President and Vice-President of the United States of America, respectively and the one thing that everyone has been harping on from the start is the need to vote in this election and make your voice heard.

I’m going to be honest, like you would expect me to be, I’m a Democrat, I fully plan on voting for Vice-President Biden and Senator Harris, but this article isn’t about the merits of voting for one party over the other, this about exercising your hard-earned right to vote.

The right to vote, to participate in choosing who will represent you in the running of government hasn’t always been offered to the majority of citizens of the United States. From the founding of the nation until about 1856, unless you were a property owner or a tax-paying white male, you couldn’t vote. Until 1920, women, like me, couldn’t vote and we were often violently suppressed, arrested, and mistreated for fighting for the right to vote. Until 1924, the First Nations of the US were not allowed to vote. Until 1965, African-Americans struggled to be able to vote in many parts of this county, facing violence, and in many cases, arrest and death, despite being given the right to vote in 1870. In many states now, former felons, who have served their time are not allowed to vote.

Voting is more than a right, it is a duty to yourself and your fellow citizens. It’s your chance to make your voice heard and help steer your nation’s future.

What can you do? Register to vote, some states allow same day registration and voting, many require you to register 30 days before the election, which puts the deadline in early October. If you registered to vote at some point in the past, make sure you’re still registered. Find out if and when early voting is offered in your state, if you have the option to vote by mail/absentee and what the requirements for that might be. Find out if your state requires an ID to vote and make sure you have one, if you don’t have one, find out how you can get one, a lot of states have options to help people get IDs so that they can vote. Educate yourself on the candidates and their platforms and vote for the candidate who shares your values. VOTE.

This isn’t a joke. People have fought, bled, and died to be allowed to vote so that you can vote. There is no such thing as an inconsequential election, it ALL counts and this one more than ever. Don’t be a coward and ‘abstain’ because neither candidate checks all the boxes, there is no such thing as a perfect candidate, get over yourself. Educate yourself, find out what you need to do and bring to the polling place assigned to you and VOTE. Vote like your life and the lives of your children and grandchildren are at stake, because they are.