|
I served on a jury this week. It wasn't a headline
type of case. We had to decide whether a man had possessed
cocaine with intent to deliver.What struck me as interesting
and disappointing was the number of people in the last
two weeks that asked me why I couldn't get out of serving.
It seems that finding a way out of serving on a jury
is more normal to the general public than actually doing
one's civic duty.
Although most Americans hold dear our rights and liberties,
contributing to what makes our judicial system work
does not appear to rank high on many people's list of
priorities.
· Then, a couple of days ago, I received an
e-mail from one of my nephrology nursing colleagues,
discussing the upcoming election and encouraging me
to vote. She pointed out some amazing numbers:
- 34 Senate seats are up for election, including 20
seats held by Republicans and 14 seats held by Democrats.
With retirements, one senator running for governor
and one senator who lost in the primary, this election
will produce a minimum of six new senators.
- All 435 representatives in the House are up for
election. In the redistricting that takes effect with
this election, eight states (including Texas) gained
new seats in the House and 10 states (including Oklahoma)
lost seats. This redistricting, along with retirements,
primary defeats and other changes, will result in
at least 46 new members of the House.
- 36 states have gubernatorial elections. With 15
incumbent governors not eligible to run because of
term limits and six choosing not to seek re-election,
at least 21 new governors will be elected.
- 47 state elections will take place for 6,314 state
legislative seats (86 percent of all state legislative
seats).
- Given these numbers, it is obvious that this is
an important election year, even without the offices
of president and vice president being voted upon.
As we saw when one senator changed parties during
this last term, even a small change can have a major
impact.
Is voting a hassle? It sure can be. Polls that are
open only from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. are not accommodating
for the nurse working that same shift. Taking time off
in the middle of a shift isn't the easiest thing in
the world to do either. Is it depressing to listen to
all the campaign ads? You bet it is, especially when
they've become as negative on almost all sides, as those
in Texas have. We not only have negative ads, we have
negative ads that counter other negative ads. I suspect
that by Election Day, these ads will have reached the
fourth or fifth generation of negativity.
Is voting important? Absolutely. Voting, like serving
on juries, is not only our right as Americans, it is
our responsibility and we should appreciate that it
is our privilege as well.
America has more than two million nurses. It is not
a fantasy to think that we have the potential to influence
the course that our nation follows. It is a fantasy
if we don't exercise our right to vote.
Discuss this and other topics with your colleagues at
www.nurseweek.com/rnvillage
|
