Voter registration deadlines for election loom in Kansas and Missouri
By ANITA WIDAMAN
Voting is a rite of passage in our home. We have taken our girls to vote with us since they were born. This summer our youngest daughter registered to vote for the first time! It took five minutes or less to register. It was exciting to receive her voter ID in the mail. It’s part of growing up.
With the upcoming important presidential election, be sure that you are registered and familiar with where and what is needed to vote. Samuel Adams stated, “Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.”
MISSOURI: www.sos.mo.gov/elections OCTOBER 12: Last day to register. September 27: Absentee voting begins
Both Missouri and Kansas have great resources online listing the deadlines for registering for the November general election and other election information such as absentee voting, military-overseas voting, ID requirements, etc. (See sidebar.) Our out of state college daughter will need to request an absentee ballot to vote in the November election.
One is encouraged to be sure they are registered and then registers others. A great resource on how to register friends, family and fellow church attenders is a step-by-step process found at www.cultureimpact.org/resources This resource urges churches to hold voter registration on Sundays. The online tool kit has everything you need from bulletin inserts to pastor sermon notes. If government and cultural issues are your passion, step up to your civil obligation and serve!
Voting is important. Remember the “hanging chads?” In 1868, one vote saved President Andrew Johnson from being removed from office. It is important to vote and vote our Christian values. Our vote will decide Supreme Court Justices, new community swimming pools, trade agreements, education goals, and more. An issue that is discussed between college students who visit our home is “free college.” When we vote we are casting our values. When we do not vote, we are allowing someone else’s values to govern us. The Metro Voice will have information in the October issue to establish if candidates share your values, but it is each voter’s responsibility to read about candidates’ values, past voting record and biography and pertinent election issues.
In America our votes are equal. Whether we are a college student or 90 years old; rich or poor: individuals get one vote. However, for our vote for it to count, you need to cast it!