With the November 5th General Election just a few days away, it appears that some people are still trying to decide if they should even bother to vote. This message is for Black people, in particular, who are experiencing that particular indecisiveness. Let’s remember that other Black people before you, in too many cases, died that you might have the right to vote. Let’s remember that it took the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, guaranteeing and protecting our right to vote; that people were beaten and killed to stop us from voting; that in this century the U.S. Supreme Court has struck down key provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965; that since 2020, we have seen a number of states try to institute Voter I.D. requirements when many of our older citizens who value the privilege of voting can not produce copies of birth certificates which often were not provided for them; let us not forget that ballot drop boxes have been removed in some states making it harder to return a ballot and that in some places the hours for voting at polling sites have been reduced to create and inconvenience voting times for working people.
Some of us might be homeless or unsheltered and say that because you don’t have a physical street address, you don’t want to vote and that your vote won’t count. Not so. Every vote counts and you can vote without a street address. Your right to vote is not attached to where you live.
In addition to our national elections, we do have local elections which will affect all of us directly. We have three seats on the County Board of Supervisors on the ballot and a City Attorney position for the City of San Diego. I am retracting our support for Brian Maienschein for that position and switching our support to Heather Ferbert, who currently serves as a City Attorney. Just as we are supporting LaShae Sharp-Collins for the 79th Assembly District seat, it’s time to look at each position and make your vote count.
If you have not registered to vote, there is still a small window. Remember, although we can’t know who you vote for, we can know whether or not you bothered to vote. Make a decision and stay in the game. Your very existence depends on it.
