How to Vote Like a Boss
Episode 269 | Author: Emilie Aries
As a former political operative, I truly believe in activism and in the power of voting. But I also understand the cynicism.
I understand that it's easy to feel apathetic - to feel checked out and helpless when big, burly global issues like this pandemic, global warming, climate change, classism, and wealth inequality feel not only unsolvable, but also feel completely ignored by our leaders.
I get why it’s sometimes reasonable to just check out and say, “All politicians are crooks. They're all the same. I’m just not participating in this year's election because to cast a ballot would be to settle for a lesser of two evils.”
I’m on the brink of burnout myself and I think it's a rational response to a global pandemic, to a world full of white supremacy and police brutality - to the brutalization of black bodies on the news everyday. But I’m here to say that voting does matter, especially in 2020.
what your vote means
When you show up to the ballot box this year - or hopefully when you fill out your mail-in ballot in the comfort and safety of your own home, you're not simply voting for the President, you're voting for the future Supreme Court Justices that the President might be able to choose.
You’re voting for Lower Court Judges and Justices who our leaders often appoint or are elected by us who often serve life sentences.
You’re voting for local ballot initiatives, like here in Colorado this year, they’re asking the voters directly if we should have a state-funded paid family leave program that makes maternity and paternity leave an actual attainable right for all kinds of workers. I’m talking about hundreds of thousands, if not, millions of workers who wouldn't already have access to it. My little company doesn't have any paid parental leave plan in place right now because it's really hard to do that when you are a team of three, or five, or even fifty. This kind of a state-funded program would essentially create an opportunity for paid family leave insurance programs for small businesses and all kinds of businesses.
These are the big issues at stake when we vote in this year's election. Beyond that, you're voting on local officials who make a very real difference in how our neighborhoods are policed, how schools are run, and so much more.
I know it can get really easy to feel like a meaningless speck of dust in a global environment that's just terrible right now and that's not an irrational feeling. So I just want to validate that dystopia and despair right now.
But when we show up to vote, we are deciding what leaders we’re putting in charge of our own neighborhoods. And let me tell you, having worked in politics, I know firsthand the talent pool is shallow. I think Michelle Obama said it perfectly when she said, “Just holding onto our seats at the table won't be enough to help our girls be all that they can be. We got to be willing to shake that table up because I've been in those rooms and those leaders, they’re not that smart.”
get your voice out there
When we just sit back and throw up our hands and don't participate, it’s saying whatever person shows up and throws their hat in the ring and decides that they're good enough to run for something, we're just going to say “Fine. You can have my power.”
Far too often those people are not the most qualified. They are not the most vetted and it's up to us to hold our elected officials to higher standards and we've got to pay attention because it's on each and every one of us to do our research before we vote and get our voice out there.
This year, more so than ever, lets vote early.
Lets vote by mail. Go to Vote.org right now to get all the details you need about where to vote, how to vote, and how to request your mail-in ballot if you need to.
Here in Colorado, we are one of the Nation’s leaders in mail-from-home ballots. Everyone who registers to vote automatically gets a ballot sent to their home. It's so easy to drop it off or to mail it in.
Check your registration
Check your registration ahead of time. One of the ways in which so many people are disenfranchised and their rights are stripped away from them is by the Secretary of States and election officials in our different states deciding who needs to be cleansed off the voter rolls every year and whose registration is being obsolete.
Don't let that happen to you. Check your registration today and check in with me. If I can help, let me know. Email my team and I at info@bossedup.org. Share in the Courage Community how you're checking in on your registration and what questions do you have.
At the end of the day, when we disengage, throw our hands up, and sit back and say, “It's all the same. What does it even matter?” - when we do that, people who want your voice silenced win.
apathy is contagious
Apathy is part of some people’s strategy and apathy is contagious.If you talk about it not mattering and let someone else decide your future for you, that is contagious. That creates a collective culture.
This year - more than ever - we have to get out and vote, because people are hurting and so many of us are hurting. We know that it matters.
If you're in one of those states where you feel like your vote doesn't matter and let me be clear because of our electoral college system, that is sometimes true as it relates to the presidential race. It’s never entirely true.
The idea that your vote doesn't matter, uttering those words out loud, spewing that kind of toxicity in the air, it deteriorates our democracy. This year, you cannot only be an active participant in this conversation and get your mail-in ballot early, but to do so loudly and proudly - model that behavior.
vote like a boss
Head to Vote.org right now if you haven't already made sure you're registered. Ask your friends if they are registered, start bold conversations from a place of respect, of course, but have these conversations because apathy is contagious and while it is understandable, it's also treatable and preventable and I firmly believe a community is the only antidote to apathy.
I implore you to join our community here at Bossed Up and get out the vote. If you have any questions about voting this year that I can help answer, make sure to send those questions to info@bossedup.org or call into the Bossed Up hotline at 910-668-(BOSS)2677.
Let's get out there. Let’s make our voices heard and let's vote like a boss.
