A day to remember, protect the importance of voting
On the fourth Tuesday in September, we observe National Voter Registration Day, a civic holiday held to celebrate democracy and the rights and opportunities we share as Americans.
On this day, advocates seek to create broad awareness of voter registration opportunities to reach several thousand of prospective voters who might not register otherwise.
Such a day is imperative, as, at any given time, millions of Americans find themselves unable to vote for something as simple as missing a registration deadline, failing to update their registration information or being unsure about how to register to vote.
Voting is a fundamental process that enables citizens to choose their own government. It allows citizens to select their representatives at every level of government and empowers them to hold elected officials accountable for their actions.
For the League of Women Voters of Illinois, there are few things more hallowed than the right to vote. As an organization born out of the fight for women's suffrage, the League remains steadfast in its belief that active and engaged citizens are the hallmark of a democracy. As such, voting is the way that citizens express their opinions in a democratic nation and is crucial to activating the democratic process.
Nowadays, the right to cast a ballot is even more precious. Nearly 100 years after the passage of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote, and 54 years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which removed discriminatory barriers to voting for African-Americans, many voters continue to be threatened with schemes to impinge upon their ability to vote, from the imposition of oppressive voter ID laws to the arbitrary closing of high-traffic polling places in communities of color.
Furthermore, our public discourse no longer revolves around differences of fact, but around conjecture or misinformation. Dissent or criticism of one's political party is now seen as disloyalty. Political moderates cower in fear of being admonished by their party for being too conciliatory. And most disturbingly, the racist, xenophobic rhetoric that has contaminated our political speech has begun to inspire misguided ideologues to commit acts of violence.
This is why registering and activating potential voters is so crucial. But merely registering is not enough; mobilization is the key. From health care to immigration, there is much at stake for the average American voter, regardless of political affiliation. At the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson said most eloquently, "The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men."
As such, now is not the time to sit on our hands and lament our broken system, but rather, to register and exercise our most sacred right.
Audra Wilson, of Chicago, is executive director of the League of Women Voters of Illinois, a 3,000-member branch of the national League of Women Voters. The League is a nonpartisan, civic engagement group that seeks to influence public policy through education and advocacy.