When Election Day is over, voter turnout is going to be one of the many big stories to come out of it.
With the pandemic, there were worries many months ago that many voters would not turn out because of the stay at home orders and the fears about catching the virus.But voters have been turning out in record high numbers here in California and across the country.
The increase in the availability and the lowered risk to health of mail-in ballots has helped lead to a huge increase of early voting, but that’s not the only reason voter turnout is going to be so high in this election.
The coronavirus pandemic has affected everyone in some way, but for probably all of us, it has sharpened our view of our lives and it has raised our concern about our future. So voters care more.
And because of how our politics have de-volved in recent years, as many have described it, with more disagreements and more division, more people have been driven to vote.
But despite the increased interest and motivation to vote in this election, there are still some who can but will choose not to vote, whether because of disgust with the politicians or because they think their one vote won’t make a difference.
But every American who can vote, should vote. As Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence, "Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." Well, the voice the governed is about to be heard.
(Photo Getty Images)