(C) Daily Yonder - Keep it Rural This story was originally published by Daily Yonder - Keep it Rural and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . 45 Degrees North: Voting, A Love Story [1] ['Donna Kallner', 'The Daily Yonder', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width', 'Vertical-Align Bottom .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar'] Date: 2024-07-19 You may not expect rural convenience stores to stock fresh flowers but some do – at least during the second week of February. Think of it as a community service: Valentine’s Day can come with steep expectations and deep disappointment when those expectations are not met. This is all fed by the marketing geniuses who turned prom proposals into performative events that seem scripted for the Hallmark Channel. For anyone unable to conceive and execute the perfect Grand Romantic Gesture by 5 p.m. on February 14, thank goodness for truck stop flowers. What does this have to do with voting? Maybe nothing, for the many people who show up for every election and have long known who they will vote for in November. But it might mean something for those eligible to vote who have not (yet) registered. I fear there’s a greater sense of awareness and duty to perform on Valentine’s Day than on Election Day. With consumer spending of $25.8 billion, clearly we are getting the message about Valentine’s. But even with a projected $15.2 billion that will be spent this year on political ads, between 35 and 60% of eligible voters may not cast a ballot. They may say they did, even if they didn’t: The phenomenon called social-desirability bias in public opinion surveys helps explain how someone who didn’t vote may say they did because they don’t want to be seen as having shirked a civic duty. People have lots of reasons for not registering and not voting. Some think their vote doesn’t really count for much. Some think it’s too hard to manage the logistics of voting. Some say, “I’m just not into politics.” Some feel there’s no candidate who really represents them. And some are simply paralyzed by the unknowns of the process, the conflicting information they’ve heard, and anxiety about making a mistake. (That last one also explains a lot of last-minute Valentine’s purchases more expensive than truck stop flowers.) It’s pretty common to put off things that make us anxious. Recently I was in my township clerk’s office with friends who needed to have advanced care directives witnessed. It’s something they should have done long before, and they knew that. But they’ve been stalled at who they might ask to be a secondary designee in case the spouse was unable to act on their behalf. They have no children and no close living relatives and many of their closest friends live far away, so they put off making a decision because it seemed any choice would be imperfect. Now, one of them is facing major surgery. Not having their affairs in order has added tremendous stress to their lives when that’s the last thing they need. They were so stressed they decided to wait yet again before signing anything. The phrase I have heard to describe this behavior is, “Perfection is the enemy of done.” When we idolize an imagined end result that theoretically could be obtained but rarely is, important stuff gets put off because it’s not perfect. But sometimes, perfect isn’t an option. Weddings get rained on. The flower girl insists the groom hold her during the ceremony. The officiant’s microphone doesn’t work. Small potatoes compared to some of the challenges those couples will face together. Into every marriage fall times when truck stop flowers on Valentine’s Day (imperfect but done) are incredibly romantic – at least, to two people working together to build a life in the real world. Unfortunately, I think there are many eligible voters who want the fairy tale and this ain’t it. So what are their options? Don’t vote at all? Cast a write-in vote for “Mickey Mouse” instead of choosing from the available candidates? Lodge a protest by voting for a candidate who is unlikely to win but can draw enough votes to impact other candidates? People who love their country and want to be good citizens but don’t like their choices might be tempted to hold out instead of “settling” for what’s on the ballot. The Valentine’s Day equivalent of that attitude would be the hot air balloon is a no-go, but I’m sure as hell not buying truck stop flowers. That might sound good in your head, but to others it may just seem like you don’t care enough to make any effort at all. Unfortunately, it seems like there’s more social expectation surrounding a commercial holiday in February than there is surrounding voting in November. Correction: Make that voting in November and every other election for federal, state and local offices. Votes and non-votes decide who holds the pursestrings in representative government. So every race counts – downballot offices as well as the top of the ticket. I understand the reluctance to cast a vote for someone you don’t know much about. But few of us personally know the headliners, either. And there’s something we can do about tha. Check Vote 411, a nonpartisan election information site sponsored by the League of Women Voters. There you can find information about the duties of different offices and compare responses from candidates about how they intend to perform in that office if elected. I’m all for anything that builds an expectation that candidates should understand the job for which they’re applying and be able to express for the record why they think they’re qualified and where they stand on issues important to me. I was going to draw a comparison to candidates on dating apps, but then thought of that social-desirability bias and lost momentum. And yet, I really do think we would all be better off if we felt at least as much expectation to vote as we feel to recognize Valentine’s (or Halloween or Earth Day or…). And expect voting not only from ourselves, but also from those we love. Yeah, I stumbled there. The parents of young adults and the adult children of elders are thinking, “Sure – I’m going to influence this when I can’t even get them to (fill in the blank)”. Point taken. But maybe we can help remove one perceived barrier – not being registered to vote. That’s been called the major reason why Americans didn’t cast ballots in the 2020 presidential election. That’s right: About 63 million Americans aged 18 years or older had not registered to vote. So why not make it a holiday? Oh, wait – it is: National Voter Registration Day is September 17 this year. Save your 4th of July decorations for celebrating a day of civic unity, a day to set aside differences and celebrate together that we have a system of government in which we have a say. It may not be perfect (ever). But the less perfect it is, well, that’s kind of on us if we don’t show up to participate in decisions about how our will is represented. There may not be greeting cards specific to this holiday (yet). But maybe rural truck stops will stock red, white and blue carnations that week in September. Better yet, don’t wait until September. Start celebrating now. This website can help those you love learn how to register to vote in your state, find your state’s voter registration deadlines, check to be sure they are registered to vote, and update their voter registration if they have moved, changed their name, or changed their political party. This one can help them make a voting plan. Their rural municipality’s clerk can help, too. Let’s get it done. Donna Kallner writes from Langlade County in rural northern Wisconsin. Related Republish This Story Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailyyonder.com/45-degrees-north-voting-a-love-story/2024/07/19/ Published and (C) by Daily Yonder - Keep it Rural Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0 International. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailyyonder/