Let’s Talk about Voting!

Table Talk: Family Conversations about Current Events

In its simplest terms, voting is an act of expressing your opinion. Whether you participate in a poll, take an online survey or vote in the Presidential election, you are expressing an opinion or point of view with your vote. Merriam Webster defines voting as “to express one's views in response to a poll” or “to express an opinion.”

In political elections, people vote for a variety of offices and laws. This includes local elections (e.g., Mayor, City Council person, Judge), state elections (e.g., State Senator, Governor) and national elections (e.g., U.S. House of Representatives, Senator, President). Voting for citizen-initiated ballot measures like referendums, ballot initiatives and recall elections is also an important part of voting. Learning about those measures in advance is essential.

You must be 18 years old to vote and register in advance.  Every state has individual guidelines about registration deadlines, mail-in voting and whether election-day registration is permitted. As of November 2024, 47 states and Washington, D.C. allow early voting. The other three states (Alabama, Mississippi and New Hampshire) do not offer early voting and require an eligible reason to vote by mail.

Elections are not finalized, and winners are not declared, until all the votes are counted. Vote processing and counting can take days, weeks or even longer, especially with close races. Because voters cast their votes in different ways (e.g., mail-in and absentee ballots, early voting and in-person voting) and because states have different rules and procedures for when votes can be received and counted, this can add to delays in finalizing the results. 

Voting is a fundamental way that we let government know what we need, what issues are important to us, how we feel about those issues and what we want government to do. When people don’t vote, or when the majority of people do not vote, the will of the people is not expressed and therefore cannot be implemented. In a 2020 primary election for a Congressional seat in Missouri, Cori Bush, a progressive candidate and a Black Lives Matter activist, defeated a ten-term incumbent Congress person. This is an example of the voters telling their government what they think is important by electing a candidate who shares their perspective on key issues.

In a democracy, many believe it is our civic responsibility to vote. Voting gives people a sense of ownership and investment in the country and confirmation that their voice and perspective should be included in its priorities and how the country is run. Ideally, voting also motivates people to become more knowledgeable about the issues that affect their lives since it is essential to be informed when you vote.

Sometimes people feel that their vote doesn’t matter, and that one vote will not make a difference. However, there have been a variety of close elections at the local, state and national levels that remind us that individual votes do matter. For example, in 2016 in a state House election in New Mexico, the outcome was decided by two votes out of about 14,000 cast.  A single vote can make a significant difference.

The U.S. Constitution did not specify who could or could not vote. Our country has a long history of excluding certain people from voting, granting the right to some but not all. At various times in history, different groups of marginalized people were prevented from voting. Over the years, several constitutional amendments attempted to correct these inequities:

• The 15th Amendment, ratified in 1870, gave Black men the right to vote. But many couldn't exercise this right. Some states used poll taxes, literacy tests and intimidation to make it harder to vote. Not until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed were Black people fully able to vote.
• The 19th Amendment, ratified in 1920, gave white women the right to vote. Despite fighting alongside white women during the Suffrage Movement, Black women did not gain the full right to vote until 1965.
• The 26th Amendment, ratified in 1971, lowered the voting age for all elections from 21 to 18.

Despite this progress, barriers to voting persist. Current disparities between the right to vote and the ability to vote result in many people who have the constitutional right to vote still facing major obstacles to voting. Various voter suppression tactics have prevented people from voting. Voter suppression refers to state laws that have been enacted that restrict voting and highlight discriminatory practices against marginalized people.

These strategies include: (1) voter ID laws that require voter ID, proof of citizenship and/or photo ID to vote, (2) voter registration restrictions which makes voter registration more difficult including limiting the time span in which you can register to vote and restricting early in-person voting, (3) voter purging which involves election officials removing voters’ registrations for a variety of reasons and not informing those voters, (4) felony disenfranchisement whereby many people who have been convicted of felonies lose their right to vote permanently; and (5) gerrymandering which is the redrawing of district lines to reallocate representation in Congress and state legislatures, often conducted in an attempt to control election outcomes. These laws differ from state to state. All of these laws disenfranchise (i.e., deprive people of their right to vote) eligible voters and disproportionately affect people of color, elderly people, young voters and those who live in poverty.

Generation Z or “Gen Z” (those born between born 1997-2013) is already the most racially and ethnically diverse generation. As the diversity of our nation expands, it is important that those who represent constituents, our elected officials and those running for office, reflect that diversity. 

The 118th Congress, elected during the 2022 federal midterm elections, is the most racially and ethnically diverse in history. Overall, 133 lawmakers identify as Black, Hispanic, Asian American, American Indian, Alaska Native or multiracial. The number of women in Congress was an all-time high with 153 women in the national legislature, accounting for 28% of all members. In 2024, Kamala Harris made history as the first Black and South Asian woman to be the Presidential nominee on the Democratic ticket. Also during the 2024 election, for the first time elected two Black women, Lisa Blunt and Angela Alsobrooks, to serve at the same time in the Senate. In addition, Sarah McBride became the first openly transgender person in Congress and the number of Hispanic Senators hit a record high, going from five to seven. While important progress has been made, it is important to continue to challenge bias that creates obstacles to voting and representatives who stand for the direction we want our country to go in.

Age

10 and up

Questions to Start the Conversation

• Have you ever voted for anything? Why did you decide to vote? How did you feel after you voted?
• What do you know about political elections and voting?
• Have you ever gone to a voting booth (with family members or friends) or watched someone vote by mail?
• What have you heard from friends and seen in the news about the current election and voting?
• What are your thoughts about the tactics currently used to prevent people from voting (I.e. voter suppression)?
• Has anything ever prevented you from voting? 

Questions to Dig Deeper

(See the Related Content section for articles and information that address these questions.) 

• Do you think it’s important to vote? Why or why not?
• What do you think we should do to encourage more people to vote or help those who are prevented from voting to vote?
• How does voter suppression impact election outcomes?

Take Action

Ask: What can we do to help? What actions might make a difference?  

• Help to organize a forum at school to discuss elections and voting, voter registration and if possible, set up opportunities for older high school students to learn more and register to vote.
• As a family, get involved in voting by supporting a candidate, supporting the right to vote or volunteering at the polls. Vote as a family by going to the polls together or if you vote by mail, discuss who you are voting for and why. Discuss your thought process for determining your selections and positions.
• Use social media to inform and educate people about individual candidates, issues your care about or general issues of voting and elections.