your voice

 
 

Longing for the Right to Vote On a Tuesday a few weeks from now, our future will change forever for better or worse. As an 11 year legal immigrant, I’ve witnessed several previous presidential elections, but this is the first time I feel that the election results will significantly impact my personal life. Whether it is the meltdown of the banking system, the sinking prices of homes, the soaring cost of gas or simply the vast differences between the candidates – a scent of history-in-the-making is floating in the air. And for me, it carries a waft of frustration with it.  For unlike most of you, I cannot vote.

This frustration is mainly around the definition of the term ‘US citizen’. What makes a person a citizen? What gives people the right to cast their vote, to place their stamp of approval on the party, candidate and way of life they believe in? Is it a citizenship test, a ceremony, or simply the geographical location where they happened to be born? My wife and I pay taxes like other Americans. Like everyone else, we pay more for gas, groceries and services. We are members of our neighborhood watch and periodically donate money to charity. Does that count for anything? On the other hand, there are US citizens who have lived abroad most of their lives, totally absent from an American way of life, but can still vote in this presidential election. All I can do is hope their votes impact me in a positive way.

It’s not that I spared any effort to become a citizen. The opposite is true. Over the past 11 years I spent thousands of dollars on lawyers and application fees in an attempt to get a green card, and in turn, to get my citizenship. But a broken immigration system, plagued by archaic laws and a mind-boggling bureaucracy, stood in my way. I received my long overdue green card earlier this year, but not in time for me to become a citizen and vote in the coming elections.

I came to America from Israel to study with dreams of unlimited prospects, and fell in love with this country. I chose to stay because of the inspiring notion of freedom which is threaded through the delicate quilt of the American constitution, law and society. In America, freedom is not just a basic right. It is an essence, a founding principle on which other laws are built upon. Yet under the Bush Administration, and particularly via the Patriot Act, personal privacy and liberties have been eroded to a degree that is shocking and unprecedented in American history.  Showing up at the polls is the only way we can restore these rights. I still have the ability to vote in Israel – and I now realize how much I underappreciated that privilege when I lived there.  But I would gladly exchange it now for a chance to vote this November 4th.

Not being able to vote myself, I am always intrigued by Americans who have that right and choose not to exercise it. The voting turnout rate in America is of the lowest in the world. While countries like Germany, Sweden, Greece, Italy, Belgium and Australia all have voter turnout over 85%, US turnout has not passed the 60% mark in 50 years. That’s one of the lowest turnout rates of any democratic country. Ease of voting is one important factor in voter turnout; I was surprised to discover that most states require the voter to pre-register before election day. Why not place this responsibility on the government, perhaps through automatic voter registration based on DMV records?  Another option is to allow Election Day registration, a practice already showing high voter turnout rates in states like Idaho, Maine, Minnesota and New Hampshire (to name a few).

Another factor in low voter turnout, based on conversations with my American friends, seems to be some combination of apathy and taking democracy for granted.  I think this is a dangerous position to take.  To quote Ralph Waldo Emerson:  “Those who stay away from the election think that one vote will do no good: 'Tis but one step more to think one vote will do no harm.”  Democracy is a reluctantly-assumed state of discontent; you can never get it exactly the way you want it, because everyone else has an opinion, too.  But to make it work, you have to participate.  Voting is your privilege, your right, your duty, your voice, your call.  There are many like me who would trade you for that privilege in a heartbeat.  So if you are not yet registered to vote, do it now. And on Election Day, no matter what it takes, vote.  I would if I could.   

Erez Batat lives in Oakland, CA.

 
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