We All Have An Important Job To Do
As summer draws to a close, we start to replace flip flops with sensible, waterproof footwear when we take the dog out for a walk or hustle kids out the door. It’s back to school and back to business. And this year there is some important business that affects us all as we prepare for local, state, and a presidential election. We live in a state where it could not be easier to vote, because we can do it without even leaving our house. We can register to vote online. We receive our personally delivered ballot in the mail, which we can complete at our leisure. And when we are done, we need walk no further than the mailbox where we retrieved our ballot to send it along its way to our County Elections office.
But I know people who have not voted in recent elections and I am sure you do too. Of course it was the summer, and a primary vote to prepare for November, but only 41% of our voters took the time to fill out a relatively short ballot and slip it in the mailbox for our August 6, 2024 election.1 We can and we must do better.
I am asking you to use your knowledge, persuasive skills and any speaking opportunity between now and November 5, to explain to your friends, family, social media contacts and anyone else in your circle of influence why it really is important to vote. In her term as ABA President, Mary L. Smith convened a Task Force for American Democracy, based on the notion that we, as attorneys, “are uniquely equipped to uphold the rule of law, rejuvenate judicial norms, safeguard election integrity and protect the dedicated professionals and volunteers who uphold our legal system.”2 She is right.
Others have followed her lead, including the New York City Bar Association which is circulating a pledge on voting and the rule of law to its membership. That pledge begins by recognizing that democracy depends on “the consent of the governed,” which in turn requires free and fair elections in which all eligible citizens are encouraged and able to vote.3 As of August 15, 2024, over a thousand legal professionals have signed onto this non-partisan promise to support and promote the fundamental principles that are encompassed in the rule of law.4 The first step in protecting the rule of law is persuading people to get that ballot in the mail or ballot box.
Promoting the importance of exercising the right to vote does not require that you and your audience are a member of the same political party or that you share the same opinions on policy issues. We all benefit from a democratic system that embraces the importance of transparent governance, fundamental fairness in application of the law and access to an impartial judiciary to enforce our rights. We all have the tools in our toolkit that prepare us to be effective advocates in support of the rule of law and an electoral system designed to give us all a voice in who will govern.
If you need prompts, information, or talking points, there are a number of resources to help you get started. There are a series of Working Papers discussing the issues facing our democracy and proposing solutions available from the ABA.5 The ABA’s Task Force Report also contains a list of actions you can take in support of the rule of law.
As we prepare to cast our votes this coming November, let us all spend some time helping others prepare to cast their votes. That could include helping to dispel the myths that are unsupported by facts, like claims that drop boxes, voting by mail, or absentee voting are vehicles for mass voter fraud. It could also include absolutely rejecting the use of violence as a means of addressing political differences or overturning the certified result in an election. You can offer thoughtful explanations of how a transparent, accountable government that enforces the law impartially and ethically is critical to our success individually, and as a nation.
I know you will vote. Please do whatever you can this election season to get others to join you.
1 https://results.vote.wa.gov/results/20240806/turnout.html
2 https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/news/2024/aba-democracy-task-force.pdf
3 https://www.nycbar.org/pledge-americas-lawyers-on-voting-and-the-rule-of-law-nine-principles/
4 https://www.nycbar.org/press-releases/a-call-to-action-to-fortify-
our-democratic-institutions-2/
5 https://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_interest/election_law/
american-democracy//resources/
