Presidential Debate Serves as a Reminder to Register to Vote

President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden will take the stage tonight for the first presidential debate of 2020. While this debate will give voters more of a glimpse into the two candidates, it also serves as a reminder to register to vote. In Texas, the deadline to register to vote is Monday, October 5th. If you have moved, switched political parties, changed your name or haven’t voted in the past four years, you will need to register or re-register to vote.

If you’re not sure if you are registered, you can check your registration status here and also learn more information about polling locations, mail-in ballots and more. If you’re in Texas, votetexas.gov is a great resource to use for local voting information. According to the Houston Chronicle, 16.6 million Texans have registered to vote so far, an uptick of 1.5 millions voters since the last presidential election.

While I don’t intend to share my political beliefs on this blog, I don’t consider the act of voting as political. It has been said time and time again by both parties, that this election, no matter who wins, is going to change the future of our country and it is our civic duty and privilege to vote. Because voting is a privilege that many people around the world do not have, I think it is important to take this responsibility seriously and to inform yourself before the election.

When I was in high school, I was lucky enough to take speech and debate classes taught by a former speech writer for one of the presidents of the United States. Of course, we all wanted to know if she was a republican or democrat and who she worked for, but she wouldn’t tell us. On the first day of class she told us that she would never tell us which party she voted for, but that if you listened to what she said, you would know which party she aligned with. Rather than blindly following a party, I think we should all be able to clearly articulate why we are voting for a person based on their beliefs, agenda and policies. Until you are able to do that, you really aren’t prepared to vote.

To learn more about both candidates, tune into tonight to watch the first of three presidential debates. Tonight’s debate, held in Cleveland, will be the first debate where the presidential candidates will not shake hands because of coronavirus protocol and will give candidates a chance to speak about how the COVID-19 pandemic was handled, the economy and possibly the filling of Ruth Bader Ginsburg Supreme Court seat.

Are you watching the debate tonight? Leave me a comment and let me know!

XO,

Brit