Don’t Waste the Vote
Democracy is a right won and protected by great sacrifice.
By Vice Adm. Norbert R. Ryan Jr., USN-Ret.

On Tuesday, Nov. 2, all of us in the MOAA  family have the opportunity to do something very important, something many people in today’s world wish they could do: choose our national, state, and local political leaders. Some people are saying this is one of the most important sets of elections in recent memory, but I’d like to stress a different point—they’re all important. Each and every election gives us the chance to choose who will lead us and the direction in which those leaders will take us.

A few MOAA  members tell me they don’t plan to vote this year. That’s a tough position for me to accept. You and I, with the strong support of our families, fought to safeguard the democratic process, and voting is one of its key elements. Voting also is one of our responsibilities as citizens. Someone is going to be elected to each office, so why not help decide who it’s to be? The fact that we’re voting is every bit as important as the choices we make on our ballot, and our vote—our single vote—might just affect an election.

There are about 26 million military veterans. If politicians know that a high percentage of us, as a group, will turn out to vote, we will have far greater clout to influence policy and decisions. From my perspective, with the ongoing war and growing budget deficit, the perception of our clout will be particularly vital to our future success, regardless of which party will govern in 2005. The U.S. Census Bureau tells us that, in 2000, some 111 million people voted. That’s about 60 percent of the eligible voting population, age 18 and over. In other words, millions of people stayed on the sidelines when they could have played in the game.

If you can’t leave the house for physical reasons or will be out of town Nov. 2, ask local election officials how you can submit an absentee ballot. If you can leave the house, offer to give a lift to someone who’s not as mobile. I suspect the buddies you served with would jump at the chance to join you.

I know MOAA  members are proud and patriotic and probably vote in high percentages. However, DoD tells us that active duty military people voted at only a 69 percent rate (both absentee and in person) in the 2000 presidential election. To help increase that active duty percentage this year, early on MOAA  urged DoD to ensure that voting procedures and processes, especially those accommodating deployed and overseas military voters and their family members, function smoothly.

Voting involves choices, some easier than others. But whether to vote is the easiest choice of all. I’m counting on everyone in the MOAA  family to lead by example and to encourage all veterans to do likewise. The right to vote was secured, and has been preserved, with the blood of men and women in uniform. We owe it to them not to disregard their sacrifice.