November 6th is just around the corner and this election season is one of the most important ever. And even though there are many people who exercise their right to vote, there are some who aren’t registered. Today is National Voter Registration Day, and When We All Vote, a non-partisan organization doing its part to ensure people have the tools needed to register, is ringing the alarm today to make sure people get out and register.
Over the weekend, Michelle Obama, who is the co-chair of the organization, spoke at a rally in Las Vegas and stressed the importance of voting:
“But even with all that said, there are still millions of people who think that voting isn’t relevant to their lives… or they think voting won’t make a difference… or they think the system is rigged, so why bother? Or maybe they feel overwhelmed, like the issues are too complicated and that politics is just too ugly. So they just don’t want to get involved.
Some folks are real busy. They’re like, “Hey, I got so much going on. I’m just trying to get my kids to daycare, trying to get to work, maybe get some sleep.” They just feel like they don’t have time for anything else in their lives.
And trust me, I get it. I get being busy. I definitely get feeling frustrated. Because, believe me, I am frustrated too. I am sick of all the chaos and the nastiness of our politics. It’s exhausting, and frankly, it’s depressing.
So I understand wanting to shut it all out and just go on and try to live your life, take care of your family in peace. But here’s the problem, while some folks are frustrated and tuned out and staying home on election day, trust me, other folks are showing up. Democracy continues with or without you.”
And yes, we all know that registering to vote isn’t a guarantee nowadays because of the certain systems in place that attempt to block people from being able to register, as well as the continued disenfranchisement of people, like ex-felons, who aren’t even given the proper information that could reinstate their voting rights. But we can’t forget that people died fighting for the right to vote, and people will continue to protest and fight for those who are still being disenfranchised.
Nowadays registering to vote is as simple as sending a text message. Last week, When We All Vote rolled out their new voting text message system, that works by simply texting WeAllVote to 97779 or by visiting: whenweallvote.org.
In order to change the system, you have to be a part of it by voting!