Whether you pull a lever, punch a card, draw a line, touch a screen, or write in a name. Vote.

Whether you do it early, absentee, or on election day. Vote.

Whether your polling place is near or whether it’s far. Vote.

Whether you are first in line or you are last in line. Vote.

Whether you go alone or go with another. Vote.

Let neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stay yourself from your constitutional right to vote at your appointed time.

For in that space, at that moment in time, there is no greater power we exercise as citizens than when we cast our ballot to choose those who shall lead our Democratic Republic.

We choose amongst ourselves, the people. There is no king. There is no queen.

We choose amongst the willing, the citizens. There is no military coup. There is no mutiny.

We choose amongst the stars, the freedom. No man’s destiny is written. It is his to write.

Let neither ignorance nor apathy nor fear nor discouragement stay your heart and mind from the high calling to vote at your appointed time.

For in America, Liberty’s torch still burns, illuminating the promise of The Declaration of Independence and the fulfillment of it in the Constitution. There is no greater responsibility than to uphold the rights in deed, for our very lives thereof depend on the citizen’s charge to vote.

By: Cynthia Shaffer
Cultural & Political Blogger