Somewhere around 50 percent, give or take a few percentage points, of people who are of eligible voting age will vote in a presidential election. If the vote is close, that means that about 25 percent of the people will determine the leader of the world’s most powerful nation.
In fact, voter non-turnout insures that the minority of the country rules, not the majority. Some pundits say the number of stay-home voters this year will increase. Others have predicted a record turnout. No one knows, at least not at the moment.
When I cast my first ballot, I was a “low information voter.” I didn’t follow the candidates and barely knew who they were. I had no idea of the issues involved. Jimmy Carter was running against Gerald Ford. On the day of the election, I still had no idea. I was definitely an undecided voter. When I went to the polls, a poll worker offered me a handful of peanuts. It was an obvious attempt at illegal campaigning inside the polling place and by a poll worker, no less!
But, I had no idea about all that either. Jimmy Carter was a peanut farmer, he was a native Southerner, and generations of my family had always voted the Democrat ticket, so I took the peanuts and voted for Carter.
Four years later, the nation had been humiliated by the Iranians, long gas lines and high gas prices were the rule, loan rates were outrageous, and jobs were scarce. I listened to the candidates, watched the news, tried to be informed, and voted for Ronald Reagan instead of Jimmy Carter. I was a low information voter no longer.
Now, I try to study the issues, examine the platforms of the parties, weigh the choices and vote for the person that I think will best represent my interests and the interests of the nation.
This, I have done this year. With both presidential candidates being the two most unpopular choices in history, I have decided that either is not a great selection.
So I am looking at the issues. Who will best strengthen our constitutional rights? Who will appoint justices to the Supreme Court who will, in my opinion, support and defend the Constitution of the United States and interpret what the Founders intended? Who will help the poor to become trained, self-sufficient, and productive? Who will give serious attention to the current healthcare debacle? Who will seek to help those of our citizens who are “special needs” people?
Who will defend the nation from its enemies? Into whose hands will I trust my grandsons as two of them seek to serve in the military? Who will work to unify this severely polarized nation? Who will defend the lives of the children not yet born? These, and other issues, are important to me.
I will vote for the candidates for President, the Senate, the House of Representatives, and local and state offices, on the basis of my own values and not by party affiliation. Unfortunately, I have encountered a number of people who are just like I was back in the day.
They are going to vote for one of the two candidates for reasons that are based on something other than facts. There are people who will vote, and have already voted, for the silliest of reasons.
I can no longer sell my vote for peanuts. The future of my family and the future of my nation hang in the balance. Those who care about either will be informed and will vote on Tuesday.
[David Epps is the pastor of the Cathedral of Christ the King, Sharpsburg, GA (www.ctkcec.org). He is the bishop of the Mid-South Diocese which consists of Georgia and Tennessee (www.midsouthdiocese.org) and the Associate Endorser for the Department of the Armed Forces, U. S. Military Chaplains, ICCEC. He may contacted at frepps@ctkcec.org.]
