One Vote-YOUR Vote! by M. Carmichael

I asked for you girls out there who are as fired up as I am to send me your thoughts, and boy did this awesome friend of mine step up to the plate! YOUR vote DOES matter.
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ONE VOTE – YOUR VOTE
by M. Carmichael
Valdosta, GA

November 2006 was an election year in our county. One office up for election was District 5 County Commissioner. This gentleman also happened to be the Chairman. The challenger in this election won the seat by only ONE VOTE. It was quite an upset in our small town in South Georgia. My husband and I have a routine where he will go vote, then come home to stay with our two toddlers so that I can go vote. I usually make it about five minutes before the polls close at 7 pm. If I had not voted on that November day, the election would have been tied. If another tired mother of small children didn’t take the time to vote, the incumbent would have had another two years in office. As I reflect on this past county election, the thought that my vote made a difference has had a profound effect on me.

Now, I realize that a county election in a small South Georgia town does not compare to the magnitude of the Presidential Election, but the concept is the same. The next President of the United States in determined by the number of electoral votes that he receives on November 4, 2008. The number of electoral votes awarded to each candidate is determined by which ticket receives the most votes statewide. So, it is very important that each citizen eligible to vote goes out on November 4, 2008 to cast their vote for the President and Vice President of the United States.

Today, I received an email from a friend entitled Why Women Should Vote. I have verified on snopes.com that this email is true and correct. You can also read more on the suffrage movement on the internet. HBO Films produced Iron Jawed Angels in 2004 which portrayed the American woman’s suffrage movement during the early 1900s.

Alice Paul formed the National Woman’s Party (NWP) in 1916.

Lucy Burns was also instrumental in the NWP. During the 1916 election, Alice Paul, Lucy Burns and the NWP campaigned against the refusal of President Woodrow Wilson and other incumbent Democrats to support the Suffrage Amendment actively. From 1916 to 1920, the NWP used tactics such as demonstrations, parades, mass meetings, picketing, suffrage watch, fires, and hunger strikes. In January 1917, the NWP staged its first political protest to picket the White House holding banners demanding the right to vote. In July 1917, Alice Paul, Lucy Burns and 31 other members of the NWP were arrested for “obstructing traffic,” and were imprisoned and tortured


at that Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia. President Wilson was under much pressure from the demonstrations of the NWP and the attendant press coverage of the imprisonment of the 33 women at the Occoquan Workhouse. In 1918, under the pretext that the women’s suffrage was needed as a “war measure” he strongly urged Congress to pass the legislation. In 1920, after coming down to ONE VOTE in the state of Tennessee, the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution secured the vote for women.

ONE VOTE gave women the right to vote! Do you plan to vote in the 2008 Election? I do. Not only will I vote, but I will pray that the right candidates win the election. The Bible commands that we pray for our leaders. I believe that this even means to pray for those that we want to be our leaders. If you are not registered to vote, there is a link on the right side of this page. Take advantage of this resource and register. If you are away from home, find out what you need to do to submit an absentee ballet. Mark your calendars for November 4, 2008 and commit to going to the polls to cast your vote. Your ONE VOTE will make a difference.