Registration

It is often said that you cannot win the lottery without playing it.  Another saying is you cannot complain about elected officials if you do not vote.  And, you cannot vote without registering to vote with your county supervisor of elections.  Over the years, this has become very easy and it is not unusual to find registration tables at public events and even outside of some churches.  These days you can even do it online! In the large scheme of things, we do not think that our vote counts.  But, let’s look at that idea.

Just a few days ago, Neil Armstrong died which reminded us that he was the first man to set foot on the moon in the summer of 1969, thus fulfilling President Kennedy’s vision and promise to safely  put a man on the moon and return him to earth before the end of the 1960s decade.  This country came very close to not having a man on the moon so soon if at all if Senator John Kennedy had not been elected in 1960.  After that election, it was determined that if only an average of one vote per precinct had voted differently, Kennedy would have lost that election and the course of the moon program might never have occurred. 

And, what about a President Gore?  Vice President Al Gore did not reach the Presidency in 2000 although he had a national majority of votes.  However, he did not win a majority of votes in the states with enough electoral votes to elect him.  One major state - the decisive one, in fact - turned out to be Florida where a very small majority resulted in Governor George W. Bush getting elected as President.  These are just a few examples of presidential elections.  In addition, there are many stories throughout the history of this country at all levels of governmental elections about very close elections and even a few ties. 

So, each and every one of our votes counts despite the feeling we get that it does not matter.  But, you can’t complain if you do not vote and you cannot vote unless you register to vote.  So, if you have not yet done so, you have the opportunity to do so through October 9.  The Bishops of Florida urge you to do so and I add my small voice to theirs.

You can even register online by going to the website for the Florida Division of Elections  - http://election.dos.state.fl.us/voter-registration/voter-reg.shtml.

cf. Moral Duties Concerning Voting: www.ewtn.com/vote/voting_faq.htm

What say you?

Let the light of our Lord shine upon you!

REM (Ray Makowski) Co-Founder, Director and Secretary-Treasurer