Listen up, ladies: Election Day is Tuesday, Nov 6 and while it may not be a big presidential race, this is still a big day for our country. It’s a chance to make fundamental changes to our national government, ones that can make real impact in the coming years.
Remember – the President isn’t the end-all-be-all of power in our country. Congress has the power to affect our daily lives the most, and this year we have the potential to make serious changes in the way they make decisions. Plus, all across the country there are more local elections occurring as well – gubernatorial (for your governor), mayoral, and town-council races count too!
Only 18% of all college students voted in 2016, and Mic.com reported that if more young people had showed up to the polls, Hillary Clinton would have won and we’d have a woman in the white house. So why is it important to vote this November?
1. Congress makes a lot of important decisions
There are two parts to Congress – the House of Representatives (more often shortened to “the House”) and the Senate. Each state gets 2 Senators, but the House is made up of representatives from certain districts within each state.
Montclair State University is in New Jersey’s 11th district. Find out what your home district is here. In New Jersey, we have one Senate seat up for grabs, and a few House seats open too.
Congress makes laws and controls taxes. They can dictate things like:
- Whether or not abortion or birth control is legal
- The legal status of marijuana
- What kind of people we let immigrate into the country
The House and the Senate sometimes are in charge of different things. Most recently, the Senate was in charge of appointing a new judge to the Supreme Court. After a majority vote, they chose Brett Kavanaugh despite the sexual misconduct accusations.
You have the power to change those decisions based on who you vote for! Ballotpedia is a great resource to find out who is running in your area. Vote.org will help you find out everything you need to vote.
2. There are plenty of amazing women running this year
Mikie Sherrill, running in New Jersey’s 11th district, is one of the many female forces taking the political stage this year. She’s a former Navy pilot and prosecutor, and has been featured in several articles in The New York Times as well as Vox, and the Washington Post.
But she’s not just the only woman making waves. There are several female candidates across the country, all with their own amazing stories about how they got to where they are today. Kristi Noem aims to be the first female governor of South Dakota, Gina Ortiz Jones might be the first lesbian and the first Filipina American to represent her district, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is running for a district she won in the primaries solely on write-in votes (that wasn’t the district she initially ran for!).
3. There are a lot of opportunities to make history
Stacey Abrams of Georgia could be the first black woman governor ever in U.S. history. Andrew Gillum could be the first black governor of Florida. Jared Polis of Colorado could be the first openly gay man to be elected Governor in history. Ilhan Omar, our country’s first Somali-American state legislator, is also running for a position in her district in Minnesota, where she could become the first Somali-American in congress.
No, you might not be able to vote for all these people, but maybe you know people who can. Also, there may be people running in your own area who are looking to break through historical barriers of their own. Check out your ballot here to find out!
Voting is the easiest way to be a good citizen. It takes less time than showing up for jury duty. It’s a lot cheaper than paying your taxes. It gives you a chance to decide who speaks for you in this world.
This year’s election isn’t as big or flashy or exciting as 2016’s, but it really does have more of an impact.