Voting: Your Civic Right, Your Civic Responsibility
Representative democracy requires citizen participation. Your vote is your civic right, and your civic responsibility.
The primary elections in August are an underutilized way to have a say.
July 1 until August 13, 2024, Majority in the Middle will be running a communications campaign, encouraging Minnesotans to vote in the primary election. We are not endorsing candidates. We are not weighing in on individual races. But we know that one of the factors that drives polarization at the state and local level is the ideology of candidates that wind up on the November ballot.
People in the middle often feel like their choices in November are between this extreme and that extreme. Or that we're getting more activists running for nonpartisan local offices. One of the reasons that's the case can be directly tied to the fact that participation in primary elections is so low, and people in the middle are likely to sit out the primary, so the more extreme candidates are the ones that generally win the primary elections and advance to the general election in November.
(It should be said -- running for office, at any time and at any level, is commendable. It takes bravery to put your name on a ballot. Some candidates are more focused on enacting a pre-determined agenda, while others are more focused on collaborating and servant leadership. If you support the former, you should cast your vote for those candidates. Our focus to encourage collaboration in governing is more easily achieved with the latter. Both have an equal right to be on the ballot, for voters to decide.)
There are several misconceptions about primary voting, but the main one to remember is this: there is no prerequisite of party affiliation because there's only one ballot. (This is slightly different from the presidential preference primary in March — that contest had a couple of extra rules and separate ballots that the August primary doesn't have.) Just walk in, cast your vote and walk out. It's as simple as that.
While some argue that primaries are inconveniently scheduled in August, a time of year when many Minnesotans are preoccupied, remember this: Decisions are made by those who show up. And there's really no "slow" time in our lives anymore. Making a plan to vote in the primary this summer isn't just participating in democracy — it's helping to shape it.
If you're afraid you're not going to like your choices in November, then it's even more important to vote in the primary.
Voting: Your Civic Right, Your Civic Responsibility.
Thank you to our friends in the current class of Leadership St Paul who helped design the campaign! Want to help spread our message? Keep an eye on our social media channels and like/comment/share our posts, using the hashtag #CivicRightCivicResponsibility
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