This is the time of year when elections get serious. There are phone calls, texts, lawn signs, and seemingly unending requests for donations to various candidates. 

While it can wear one down, I am so happy that we live in a country where there are elections that mean something. 

It’s not like we are voting for Vladimir Putin or no one. We have real choices with candidates that have opinions on real, meaningful issues. 

And our elections, contrary to some who would have you believe otherwise, are honest and fair. 

Our ability to vote is a precious gift. I’ve no time for the cynical scoffers who contend that one vote doesn’t make a difference. It makes all the difference in the world. 

I grew up in a family that believed very much in voting. Both my Grandfather Stabbert and my dad were lifelong Democrats. Dad supported everyone from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Jimmy Carter to Barack Obama.  

When Dad talked about Roosevelt you could hear the emotion in his voice. His family revered the Roosevelts and were not alone in feeling that FDR had saved the country from the Depression as well as from the fascism that was sweeping the world. 

I can picture them listening intently to his Fireside Chats, gathered in the living room around the radio and listening to FDR explain his efforts to help America out of its slump and to support our allies in their fight against the Axis powers. 

I get the chills whenever I have had the opportunity to visit the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park. We live close enough that a visit to FDR’s home and library should be on everyone’s to-do list, no excuses. The Library has undergone extensive renovations and is now interactive. You can sit in an exhibit of a dining room or kitchen of the 1930’s and by pressing a button you can listen to the same radio Fireside Chats that kept our great-grandparents informed, inspired, and comforted nearly 100 years ago. 

Because of the leadership and bravery of so many over the years, all Americans have the right to vote. The Founders decided that voting rights would be an issue regulated by the states. Initially only white male landowners or taxpayers had this right in most states. However, this evolved over time, as more of the population was added to the voting rolls by Constitutional amendments. African American men able to vote after the 15th Amendment was ratified in 1870. Yet some states used literacy tests and other barriers to discourage their voting. Unbelievable as it may seem, American women were not given the right to vote until the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920. Poll taxes were forbidden after 1962 by the 24th Amendment and the 26th Amendment lowered the voting age for all elections to 18. 

Universal suffrage—the right for all citizens to vote—has been an ongoing quest throughout our nation’s history. 

It is our right—and duty—to vote for our leaders. For more information on when and where you can cast your ballot, go to https://www.nass.org/can-I-vote . And please vote.