FORUM The importance of midterm elections can’t be overstated so go out and vote!

Dr. James B. Ewers Jr.

Guest Columnist

We enjoy freedom each day of our lives as it is a fundamental tenet of our America. Our Constitution was designed so that we could have choices. The early founders understood that these choices and rights would define our way of life.

As we know, there are parts of the world where dictatorships rule the day, and their citizens have no choices or rights. Sadly, they must contend with whatever their governments say because they have no say. That is why countries who have no freedoms look at America as a land of opportunity.

Do we take these freedoms and privileges for granted?

The way of life we have is the only way of life that we know. Unlike our brothers and sisters in foreign lands, we wake up every day free! We don’t have to seek out hiding places because our views may be contrary to others. Our voices are not muted and muffled because we fear those in charge.

Let’s just say proudly and simply that freedom is a beautiful thing.

Yet we know that along with freedom comes responsibility. Having choices and rights are inextricably tied to the responsibilities that we have as citizens of this nation. Voting has been a long- standing staple of our democracy. This right to vote is not to be taken lightly.

If you are Black like me, you know the history that we have had with voting. From the poll tax to The Voting Rights Act of 1965, it has always been a struggle; however, we have persisted and prevailed. Blood shed and lives lost have placed voting as a consistent priority for us. This is my opinion.

Our voting has resulted in significant improvements in our quality of life, yet we still have challenges ahead. Living where we live and how we use our resources have come as a direct result of our voting at all levels. The power of the vote in many respects has been our safety net. The record will show that our right to vote has often been met with resistance.

We need to look no further than the state of Georgia.

Georgia State Bill 202 has created barriers for voters. For example, there is a distance requirement for food and water to be given to voters in line. In my opinion, this is ridiculous and disheartening.

Another new regulation is the time to request and return absentee ballots has dropped from 176 days to 59 days, according to reports.

Liz Conrad, deputy director of Fair Fight, a voting rights organization in the state said, “For voters who wish to vote by mail, many are now overcoming these barriers while attempting to make their voices heard.”

Helen Butler, executive director of the Georgia Coalition for the Peoples

Agenda said, “What we have to do now is canvassing to really educate people about the process. We are trying to make sure that people are still able to exercise their right to vote.”

It is clear to many in the Peach State that State Bill 202 is problematic.

Shanice Amira Bennerson, a former precinct manager, decided not to continue as a poll worker. She said,” Trying to help voters who were just so confused and dejected is heartbreaking. When you have limited precincts and voters who are confused by these changes, some just left.” perbolic.

Despite these voting entanglements, I believe the people of Georgia will have the final say. The detours will only make them stronger and more determined.

There will always be those who create nonsensical rules that inhibit forward progress. We have overcome too much and come too far to turn back now.

Midterm elections will be occurring in Georgia and across the country. Don’t worry, we will be there in record numbers. Vote on Tuesday, November 8!

James B. Ewers Jr., Ed.D., is a former tennis champion at Atkins High School in Winston-Salem and played college tennis at Johnson C. Smith University, where he was all-conference for four years. He is a retired college administrator. He can be reached at overtimefergie.2020@yahoo.com.

Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves. The only way they could do this is by not voting.

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Since midterm elections rarely have the pizazz of a presidential contest, a lot of eligible citizens don’t bother to vote in them. To a growing number of those citizens who do vote, failing to cast a ballot this year would be comparable to crewmembers of the Titanic abandoning their posts as the ship approached the iceberg. I’m not being hy-

Choose your own definition: we’re in a crisis, we’re at an inflection point, the shift has hit the fan. However you characterize this moment in the United States of Disruption, people across the political spectrum agree: staying on the sidelines this election is a cop out.

Vote for the children

To a growing number of citizens, it’s hard to fathom that anyone would feel apathetic about voting this fall. If you’re thinking about sitting out, take a minute to consider the world your children and grandchildren will inherit. If you don’t want to vote for yourself, then vote for them.

In the U.S. - like in so many other countries on every continent - the natural environment is being battered by one catastrophe after another: from unprecedented wildfires to super hurricanes. Our interconnectedness among the family of nations means that these emergencies - as well as the floods in Pakistan, the blistering heat waves from India to Europe, and the droughts from Africa to China and, of course, the war in Ukraine - are impacting life from the gas pump to the grocery store. Will connecting these dots - as well as the others that reveal the fragile state of democracy - contribute to more citizens voting? I hope so.

There’s a growing movement of people who believe that not voting should be against the law. Think that’s far fetched? Consider Australia. It’s compulsory for every eligible Australian to vote in all elections and referendums. That’s a worthy model for Congress to look into adopting down the road. Right now though, whether by mail, early, or on the day of, vote.

Compared to most high-income countries, turnout in the U.S. is below average, the Council of Foreign Relations reported in August. In the 2020 national elections, for example, just 62% voted. Contrast that with highturnout countries, including Belgium, Sweden, and the Netherlands, at 75% or higher.

In 2020 only 70% of eligible voters were registered, the Census Bureau reported. Since in many states citizens can still register, reach out now to those you know among the apathetic 30%.

Vote because it’s patriotic

If voting to ensure that future generations have a livable planet to inhabit isn’t reason enough, how about voting as a patriotic act? Despite the term being variously interpreted by different constituencies,

Ukraine, than at any time since John Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev found a path back from the brink six decades ago.

Sixty years ago this week, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, I was in my mother’s womb. My young, sweet mom was terrified she’d never get to see me be born, as the world teetered on the brink of unimaginable calamity. It’s bewildering to me that nuclear crises bookend my life at this point.

I’ve worked for nuclear disarmament since 1983, but here we are, perhaps closer to nuclear catastrophe, with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s thinly veiled nuclear threats in his disastrous war against

Decades of progress in reducing the overall number of nuclear weapons in the world has recently been undercut by backsliding on nuclear weapons treaties, lack of progress on disarmament (in fact, the opposite, a new arms race with all nuclear states “upgrading” their arsenals), and hypocrisy on non-proliferation by the nuclear powers.

There are now nine nuclear-armed statesthe U.S., Russia, China, France, Britain, Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea - and many more that could go nuclear if they so choose. Clearly, humanity has so far failed to deal with the existential threat of the weaponized atom.

Moreover, the fact that a single person, the chief executive in those nine countries, on his or her own authority, could initiate a nuclear war that could wipe out all or most life on Earth is unacceptable if one has any notion of democracy or the common good.

Harvard professor Elaine Scarry laid this out simply in her trenchant book, ”Thermonuclear Monarchy: Choosing Between Democracy and Doom.” Why, in our supposedly advanced state of social development as a species, we allow such power to be invested in nine individuals, is a question worthy of intense scrutiny, and sorely needed change.

However, the current crisis brings with it the opportunity to re-engage on nuclear disarmament issues at the grassroots level in order to show our government it needs to get serious about reducing, not exacerbating, the nuclear threat.

My organization, Peace Action, is part of a coalition called Defuse Nuclear War, which is doing just that. This month, with the anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis as well as the current threat by Russia to use nukes in its faltering war in Ukraine, is a great time to get active.

Last Friday, local events were held in over 40 cities across the U.S. to sound the alarm. Activities are ongoing; the defusenuclearwar.org website has helpful tools and suggestions for action including writing letters to the perhaps we can all agree on one core belief: patriotism places the wellbeing of the nation ahead of our own.

In this fraught moment, patriotism certainly means more than “public service” or “volunteering” or “being a good citizen.” Being a patriot today is akin to a firefighter rushing into a burning house, except it’s not to save the inhabitants.

It’s rushing into a house divided in order to save democracy from being scorched beyond recognition.

In considering sharing these ideas with those you know - or suspect - aren’t planning to vote, remind them of these basic truths:

*Voting is important because it’s the best way to ensure our voice is heard in how government is run.

*Voting is important because the people we choose to represent us have a real impact on our lives.

*Voting is important because the freedom to vote is among our most cherished rights.

*Voting is important because it expresses our commitment to each other, our country, the world and ourselves.

The actor-activist Jesse Williams has an answer for those who don’t vote. “If someone says, ‘I was making a statement by not voting,’ then you say, ‘Well, I can’t hear it.’”

Plato, more than 2000 years ago, went even further. “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.”

To quote nearly every U.S. president, “Vote.” editor (still a great way to get our message out to the public) and social media engagement. Expect more resources including videos and Zoom educational and organizing events soon.

Rob Okun, (rob@ voicemalemagazine.org) syndicated by Peace Voice, writes about politics and culture. For more than a quarter century he has edited Voice Male, a magazine chronicling the antisexist men’s movement.

The demands of Defuse Nuclear War are simple and clear:

*End the policy of first use of nuclear weapons;

*Rejoin nuclear arms control and reduction treaties;

*Take U.S. weapons off hair-trigger alert;

*Eliminate land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles;

*Support Congressional legislation, House Resolution 1185, backing the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons;

*Move the money to human needs, not war.

At this time of dire threat, we can’t sit back and rely on politicians to get it right. Kennedy and his advisors almost didn’t in 1962; it was perhaps more luck than skill that averted Armageddon.

Please get involved with Defuse Nuclear War actions, and invite your family, friends, colleagues, and social media audiences to do the same, as we need to broaden our circle. It may be, as the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists Doomsday Clock warns, perilously close to midnight, but we can help turn the clock back on nuclear catastrophe if we act together.

The babies in mothers’ wombs worldwide need us right now.

Kevin Martin, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is President of Peace Action Education Fund, the country’s largest grassroots peace and disarmament organization with more than 200,000 supporters nationwide.