An Open Letter to Potential Voters

Dear Reader,

This is going to be a long letter. It’s all for good reason though. It’s stocked with information. In this, I'm going to discuss the history of voting, support, information, and why you should take action. All very important things. I think we can agree on that.

So we all know what voting is. Everyone in a group says their opinion, the majority wins. Easy peasy. Well, way back when, half of that group wasn’t allowed to vote. Due to things like the Grandfather Clause ( you could only vote if your grandfather could), and literacy tests, black people in the 1800s couldn’t vote, despite in theory it being legal. Because of this, for so long black voices weren’t heard in terms of representation. That’s part of why voting is so important. A lot of people in history weren’t able to, so you need to take advantage of your right.

Later in this letter, I will talk about educating yourself to know who to vote for, but here is my synopsis of the democratic and republican presidential candidates and their vices.

1. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. Harris is an African-Asian-American woman. She is the current vice president to Joe Biden (as of 10/22/2024). She was the California Senator, the 27th district attorney of San Francisco, and the 32nd Attorney General of California. She is the Democratic nominee. Her running mate Walz was a teacher and the 42nd Governor of Minnesota who served in the United States Army.
2. Donald Trump and JD Vance. Trump is an American business man. He served a term as president from 2016 to 2020. He has founded multiple organizations and is a businessman. Donald Trump has been convicted of 34 felonies. He is the Republican nominee. His running mate Vance is a lawyer and the Ohio sSenator, who served in the United States Marine Corps.

There will also be issues on the ballot. The ballot has issues that people bring forward to vote on. Your vote is necessary on this because you are voting on things proposed by your fellow citizens. I am going to go over the ones on the Massachusetts ballot, but for more information on other states, go to vote.org/ballot-information/. The issues on the Massachusetts 2024 ballot are as follows;

1. Should the auditor oversee the legislator?
   1. A yes vote on this would mean that the Massachusetts state auditor would be able to evaluate and investigate the state legislature.
   2. A no vote on this would mean the auditor would continue with their job of investigating other subjects.
2. Should passing the MCAS be a graduation requirement?
   1. A yes vote on this would mean that a passing grade on the standardized test for Massachusetts would not be a sophomore requirement for graduation.
   2. A no vote would mean that it would continue to be required that sophomores take the MCAS in order to graduate high school.
3. Should there be a union for rideshare drivers?
   1. A yes vote on this would mean that rideshare drivers (Uber, Lyft, etc,) would be able to unionize to negotiate for benefits.
   2. A no vote would mean rideshare drivers would continue to have no say in their work standards, disallowing unionization.
4. Should psychedelic drugs be legal?
   1. A yes vote on this would mean a group of natural psychedelics would be legalized for growth and to be prescribed by licensed doctors.
   2. A no vote on this would mean that the drugs psilocybin, psilocyn, mescaline, DMT, and ibogaine would continue to be illegal for medical and recreational use.
5. Should tipped workers be given minimum wage?
   1. A yes vote on this would mean that over the next 5 years, the minimum wage for tipped workers (waiters, bartenders, etc,) would be raised from $6.75/hour, to the state minimum wage of $15.00 per hour.
   2. A no vote on this would mean that tipped workers wages would continue to stay at a minimum of $6.75 an hour.

For a deeper understanding of the issues on the ballot, go to https://cspa.tufts.edu/2024-ballot-questions.

I understand why you may be on the fence about voting. You think that your vote won’t matter. You’re not sure if you’re educated enough. You’re worried about the security of your vote. You don’t have the time to go out and vote. All of these are completely valid reasons, but I want to tell you why it’s absolutely necessary for you to vote.

Let’s start with thinking your vote won’t matter. This is probably one of the most common worries. I ask you to think about it this way; if everyone thought their vote didn’t matter, nobody would vote. We would be stuck without the decision having been made. Or what if, in some crazy situation, we had a tie? Your one vote could have changed that. Your vote has an effect in every single election, whether you realize it or not. I implore you to realize it, because otherwise the country will have missed out on the change you could have made.

What about the fact that you’re not educated enough? You don’t know enough about the candidates that you think you shouldn’t vote, for fear of choosing the wrong one. This one is a simple fix; educate yourself. Next time you have half an hour of free time, do some digging on the candidates and their running mates. Find out which have values you stand for, and which have done acts you can’t look past, or have criminal records.

The security of your vote. Depending on how you choose to vote, this is going to be different. If you choose to vote by mail, depending on your state there is going to be a website that you can use to track your ballot. If you choose to vote in person, comfort yourself in knowing that there are cameras, locks, and that most votes are counted by secure electronic tabulators.

Now you don’t have time to vote. Your work may take up too much time, you have too many events, whatever your situation is, there are ways you can get time because being there is no excuse not to vote. The following list is of states that mandate time off to vote on election day, but you can always ask for time off:

Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin. They may have different amounts of time to vote, and in some states employers can request proof that you voted, but each of these require actual time to go out and vote. Remember that you can also always vote through the mail as well, which takes five minutes plus walking to a mailbox.

Your vote is necessary in preserving the democracy of America. You can represent the voice of your community, despite how much power you may regularly have. Encourage your family, your friends, your coworkers, anyone you meet on the street, tell them all to vote. This country’s future depends on it.

Sincerely Yours,

Lena