Exercise Your Right to Vote on Nov. 5

After a long season of campaigning, polls, ads, promises, debates and analysis from pundits, voters are once again on the cusp of electing a president and determining control of the House and Senate.

America’s electoral traditions may seem exhausting to many, but we should remember that the privilege of expressing our choices by ballot is a shining freedom that many people around the world covet. 

Throughout our history, many individuals and groups have faced significant challenges in their quest for the right to cast a ballot in our nation’s pursuit of a more perfect union.

• In the early 20th century, women in the United States fought fiercely for their right to vote. Many women engaged in hunger strikes and civil disobedience, and their efforts culminated in the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920, granting women the right to vote.
• In the 1960s, African Americans in the South faced systemic barriers to voting, including literacy tests, poll taxes and intimidation. Their brave movement for justice eventually led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which aimed to eliminate these discriminatory practices.
• Native Americans could not vote until 1924. And many states found ways to keep Indigenous people from voting through legal loopholes and discriminatory laws. It wasn't until the 1960s that significant changes were made, largely due to activism by Native American groups, culminating in a broader recognition of their voting rights.

These examples highlight the resilience and determination of those who have fought for the fundamental right to vote, reminding us how important it is for all voices to be heard in democratic processes.

As citizens, we will always have differing points of view about candidates, policies and the direction we wish for our society. The results of every election will please some voters and disappoint others. That is part of the deal of what it means to live in a democracy.

But the act of voting, the national exercise of this cherished and hard-won freedom, continues to bind us together as Americans, as it has from the dawn of our republic.

Next Tuesday, if you haven’t done so yet, please vote. It matters.