VOTING IS OUR RIGHT AND ITS OUR DUTY


  Our Forefathers said that we where endowed with inalienable rights such as
deciding what type and form of government that we would like to have, to that end
they decided upon a democratic/republic (elected representative style of
government).


  Now you know the form of government and the style let us discuss our right to
vote and our duties in exercising that right.


  First we gave ourselves the right to vote but our fore fathers thought that
most people where not sufficiently educated to be able to really be able to
understand the intricacies of running the newly founded government. They also
thought that the people would not be able to vote for the right people to head
this new government (The Executive Branch) to ensure that not only would the
government have a smooth transition from one administration to another and to
keep the new congress from being able to choose who they wanted our forefathers
created something called the electoral college. The persons in the Electoral
College would be elected directly by the people. The people running for the
Electoral College would run as a supporter of one of the presidential candidates,
once the election was over and all votes counted these delegates where to meet
and vote on the President. These delegate where only obligated to vote for the
person that they had run for on the first round of voting, after that they could
vote for who ever they wanted. The person who got the majority of votes became
the President and the person with the second most became the Vice-President. This
process has been changed over the years by way of the amendment process, See the
U.S. Constitution, The Bill of Rights (amendments 1-10) and Amendments 11-27.
Now the reason I said all of the above is to give you some background on how
your vote has counted over the years, next I will tell you why to vote and why I
consider it our duty to vote.


  It is every persons right to vote as long as they meet the criteria set forth
in the Constitution and as amended in its amendments. Your right to vote has
evolved over the last 225-240 years, with that so have the duties and responsi-
bilities that are embodied in that right, we all need to understand that.


  The duties that come along with the right to vote, what they are and how they
impact us, how they make our nation better?

1) To register to vote in your place of residence.
2) To elect competent people to run our government.
3) To keep current on all events and our governments actions.
4) To teach your children by example that voting counts.



  The impact of the above will be to help our governmental officials to know what
the majority want and also show our children that voting can cause change and
even when your vote was on the losing side that by always staying informed on the
issues and that by contacting our elected representatives that you can still
sometimes evoke change, all this can show our fellow citizens and children that
voting does matter and does do good.


  So go out and vote for what you believe in, no matter how hopeless it may seem.