Abraham Lincoln wants you to vote. Ok, he didn't tell me that personally. However, we all know that he worked very hard -- and at great cost -- to preserve our nation's union. I think he would appreciate citizens executing their duty and vote to maintain and preserve our democracy.
Today is National Voter Registration Day. Each election year, millions of eligible voters do not vote because they are not registered. As result, millions of voices are not heard at election time because they can't cast their voter ballot.
Why aren't they registered? Perhaps they moved since the last election and didn't register for their new residence. Maybe they are a student going away to college and haven't registered in their college state or didn't request absentee voter status in their home state. Some many even be naturalized citizens or recently turned 18 and not yet registered.
Regardless of your situation, if you're an eligible voter, you need to register and add your voice in November.
Think of elections as shareholder meetings for a publicly-traded company. At those meetings, shareholders tell the company what they want them to do. That's what voters do during elections; we give our direction for the country when we cast our ballot. Voting is our way of influencing policymakers and federal, state and local policy. Want things to be different? Register before the voter registration deadline and then rock the vote in November.
While I won't advocate here who you should vote for in the 2012 presidential election, I will advocate for you to vote. We may disagree on what is the best direction for this country, but I hope that we agree on the importance of casting our ballots and sharing our voice in November.
UPDATE 9/25/12 9:57 AM: Don't know the voter registration and absentee ballot request deadlines are for your state. Check out this great resource page from the U.S. Vote Foundation which lists out all of the election voting deadlines for each state.
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