(Terre Haute) Tribune-Star. September 25, 2020
Key election date looms for voters to register
It would seem that Wabash Valley residents are anxious to cast their votes in an election that could reshape the future of local cities and counties, the state of Indiana and the nation.
They cannot do that, though, unless they register with their home county.
The window of opportunity is closing for folks who intend to vote but are not yet registered. The deadline for Indiana residents is Monday, Oct. 5 — just 11 days away. The process is not difficult, and guidelines can be found online at the state’s website indianavoters.in.gov. Residents who do not have access to the internet can ask a friend or relative to print out a registration form via the state website.
Interest appears to be rising. As of Wednesday, the Vigo County Voter Registration Office counted 72,418 registered voters. That is an increase of 1,040 since the June primary election.
Of course, one huge variable looms, in terms of how many people actually vote in the Nov. 3 general election. The coronavirus pandemic continues to alter everyday life here and around the world. All but a handful of states have expanded absentee voting by mail to all residents, an opportunity that allows voters to avoid waiting in lines at polling sites and possibly being exposed to the virus. Indiana officials declined to expand mail-in voting, except for residents who meet one of 11 state-approved excuses for voting absentee.
Those excuses do not include a concern of contracting COVID-19, unless the person is confined to their residence because of that fear, state officials have said. Gov. Eric Holcomb and Secretary of State Connie Lawson emphasize that public-health protocols will be in place at polling sites. Vote centers will be safe, Holcomb said Wednesday.
For some Hoosiers, the decision on whether to register and vote involves a doubt about the importance of their lone ballot. Such skepticism defies recent history.
More than 120 million votes were cast nationwide in the 2016 election, highlighted by the race between billionaire real estate developer and reality TV star Donald Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Amid those millions of votes, a cluster of 107,000 votes in three states — Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — gave Trump the presidency through the Electoral College. That batch amounts to 0.09% of all votes cast that year.
For both Trump and Clinton supporters, those voters clearly mattered.
Even people uninterested in or disillusioned by this year’s president race between Trump, the incumbent Republican, and former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic challenger, should consider numerous other issues at stake in the 2020 election.
The governor’s seat is up for grabs in Indiana, pitting the incumbent Holcomb against Dr. Woody Myers, the Democratic former state health commissioner, and Libertarian Don Rainwater. Most Hoosiers have been affected by policies put in place to contain COVID-19 by the governor and fellow state officials, and voters can weigh in on whether Holcomb’s handling of the situation merits a second term.
Congress also has a role in the coronavirus response. Voters can decide whether federal assistance and recovery steps have been proper by deciding between incumbent 8th District Rep. Larry Bucshon or his Democratic challenger, Owen County business owner and EMT Thomasina Marsili.
Seats in the Indiana House and Senate are on the ballot, too. Both chambers are dominated by Republicans. Residents can show their approval or disapproval of legislators’ handling of the state economy, finances, public education and the quality of their roads by voting in those races.
And, perhaps most important and visible are the county-level races for judges, clerk, auditor, treasurer, coroner, commissioners, council members and school board seats. If having a say in local courts, public projects and school policies matters, then vote.
Registering to vote takes only a few minutes. Casting a ballot consumes part of a single day. The outcomes of those votes can impact lives for years and generations. So get registered and vote.
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Kokomo Tribune. September 25, 2020
Count people of all identities
Multiracial people make up an increasing percentage of the population, and the census allows them to more completely embrace their racial identity.
With limited options in the decades before the 2000 census, multiracial people were forced to deny a portion of their ethnic identity or be defined as the white majority would define them with words such as “mulatto.”
The first census in the United States was held in 1790. Our perceptions of ethnicity changed drastically over the decades that followed.
According to the Pew Research Center, early versions of ethnic categories on the census included instructions that those of “mixed blood” were considered “Negro” or “Indian.”
The first category available to Asians was simply “Chinese,” and Asian Indians were referred to as “Hindus.” In 1930, those of Hispanic ethnicity had the option to identify only as white or Mexican.
It is important that all Americans be able to define and embrace their own ethnic identity. This creates a more accurate picture of who we are as people, as a society and as a culture.
The census now offers the opportunity to rethink ideas such as race, ethnicity and identity.
For centuries, the United States has been commonly referred to as a melting pot of cultures, and the census now allows people of various races to be counted and to share in the allocation of resources based in part on the decennial national population survey.
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The (Anderson) Herald Bulletin. September 23, 2020
A tribute to a cultural icon
Chief Justice John Roberts offered a tribute to the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
“Our nation has lost a justice of historic stature,” he said. “We at the Supreme Court have lost a cherished colleague. Today we mourn but with confidence that future generations will remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg as we knew her, a tireless and resolute champion of justice.”
She was a cultural icon, the “Notorious RBG.”
“I do think I was born under a very bright star,” she told National Public Radio. “Because if you think about my life, I get out of law school, I have top grades. No law firm in the city of New York will hire me. I end up teaching; it gave me time to devote to the movement for evening out the rights of women and men.”
Indeed, though she’s known as a leader in the fight for women’s rights, one of her first big victories came in defense of a Colorado man seeking a tax deduction for the care of his 89-year-old mother. The Internal Revenue Service argued that the deduction applied only to women, the caretakers in the household, but Ginsburg argued successfully that men and women should be treated equally.
As a member of the nation’s highest court, Ginsburg frequently found herself in the minority. “Some of my favorite opinions are dissenting opinions,” she told NPR. “I will not live to see what becomes of them, but I remain hopeful.”
Ginsburg did not back away from a fight, but she found ways to disagree without being disagreeable. One of her best friends was conservative Supreme Court icon Antonin Scalia, a man with whom she seldom agreed.
Just days before her death, Ginsburg expressed the hope that her seat would remain unfilled until after the presidential election. Her wish was not without precedent.
When Scalia died four years ago during President Barack Obama’s final year in office, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to give Obama’s nominee even a hearing, holding the seat open for the better part of a year. The voters, he insisted, should have their say.
Now, just weeks before another election, McConnell sees things differently. There’s a Republican in the White House, so, of course, the Republican-controlled Senate will confirm his nominee.
Just for the record, most Americans are fed up with a brand of politics where compromise is a bad word and the party with one more vote carries the day.
We long for the days when polar opposites like Ginsburg and Scalia could find common ground, for a time when a Supreme Court nominee could be confirmed, as Ginsburg was, by a vote of 96-3.
Ginsburg’s death reminds us that we had that sort of atmosphere once. We must find a way to have it again.
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