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Voting: A Personal Story

By Michelle Putnam, Associate Director of Research and Advocacy

My father and I have never agreed on political candidates. We’ve ruined many a Thanksgiving dinner in misguided attempts at convincing one another to swing towards the opposite end of the political spectrum. Inevitably, the good-natured ribbing leads to good-natured complaining, which escalates to good-natured shouting before ending with some good-natured pouting over a slice of pecan pie. To this day, we have never voted on the same political party ticket. Still, every election day, one of us always calls the other with a brief reminder: “Make sure you vote!” Sure, our votes most likely cancel each other out. And yet every time, we make sure each other votes, because the point is not that one vote will change an entire election; rather, many votes preserve a democracy.

In order to vote, you actually have to register before Election Day. So let this serve as a reminder: in order to vote this November, you must register by October 6, 2014! And here’s how you can do it:  visit the Georgia Secretary of State website and either fill out an online application or print out an application and mail it in. If you’re already registered to vote, you can double check where your polling precinct is located by visiting My Voter Page.

Registering to vote is the easy part. The harder part is learning about the candidates. Reading the newspaper, visiting a candidate’s website, or catching the candidate out on the campaign trail are all good ways to stay current on the issues.

Make sure you’re registered to vote by October 6, 2014. That way, you’ll be ready to vote on November 4, 2014. Just remember – no political talk over Thanksgiving dinner.