Have a voice, make a choice. The ballot is stronger than the bullet. Be aware, do your share, vote! These are catchy slogans to get people to the polls. You may have heard – there is a presidential election happening on November 6th.
Impacting everyone’s state of mind at the voter’s booth will be the economy which is limping along. The candidates talk a lot about fixing things, but a dispiriting prospect looms. The nation’s poverty rate remains staggeringly high with 46.2 million people living in poverty according to the U.S census.
The election’s outcome will have a profound effect on the nation’s neediest and the organizations that serve them, depending on how each candidate slices and dices programs and the tax code to balance the budget.
You have a choice to make, and you can be an advocate for those 46.2 million people struggling to make ends meet by bringing your values to the voting booth. You can be an anti-poverty voter.
Look at the candidates carefully, review their plans, think through which candidate really has a better set of policies to address the needs of the poor. Vote accordingly.
Analysts say that there is going to be low turnout for the election due to voter apathy. But the issue of poverty is real. It’s raw. And it’s affecting millions of people. You’re not apathetic because you are part of United Way’s movement to cut poverty in half by 2020. You’ve got a voice. Use it! Vote on November 6th!
For more information on voting and how to register, go to the California Secretary of State’s website. The deadline to register to vote in the November election is October 22nd.
