The most important job in American democracy: Voter

Today, Alaskans decide who heads to November’s ballot and, from there, who will represent us in Washington, D.C. and Juneau. And while presidents, senators and representatives are important, the most solemn and serious job in our democracy is “voter.”

Election 2020 has fallen in the midst of an extraordinary year. It proves we need serious leaders for serious times, for without this leadership, plagues become pandemics and Americans are gassed outside the people’s White House.

Schools are closed, stores are shuttered, and more than 775,000 people across the world — more than 170,000 in the United States — are dead from COVID-19.

Black lives matter, yet Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd are dead, and systemic racism still shackles our American democratic experiment.

The battles being fought on the frontlines of the pandemic and in the fight for equality are not mutually exclusive. In both, we see what can happen – or not – when our public servants act – or don’t – in our names.

We all must vote like our rights depend on it and demand that our elected officials represent our values.

In Rep. John Lewis’ final words to the American people, he wrote: “Ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble. Voting and participating in the democratic process are key. The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society. You must use it because it is not guaranteed. You can lose it.”

As he often was, Rep. Lewis was right.

Fixing the injustices of this nation will require every voice to be heard and every ballot to be counted. But that won’t happen if our elected leaders continue to allow votes to be suppressed.

In Alaska, this suppression will show its face in many ways.

Unnecessary barriers, like the requirement of witness signatures on absentee ballots, only restrain Alaskans from exercising their vote. This is not a simple requirement for an older person living alone, who is following the guidelines of public health experts and practicing social distancing, or for single parents, or for Alaskans with a disability.

Our voices are muzzled when our elected leaders fail to recruit and supply poll workers in rural precincts, and knowingly allow the United States Postal Service to collapse.

These elected leaders know the challenges you have faced this year, and they know you have more ahead. They know you’re tired, and that every decision you make is carefully considered, and with compassion for your neighbors. Having to choose between your health and your vote should not be a choice you have to make.

Our government is for the people, by the people. Now it’s the job of our government officials to do what we’ve elected them to do, and protect the cherished principles that make us safe, equal and free.

Joshua A. Decker is the Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska, which for 49 years has protected the constitutional rights of everyone in the Last Frontier.

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