Help keep the light of democracy shining | Letter to the editor

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Bernice King, CEO of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, asks us all to treat Jan. 17 not as a day off but as a day on, a day “to educate, to advocate, and to activate.” (Video released Dec. 17, 2021)

According to the Brennan Center for Justice (affiliated with the NYU School of Law), at least 19 states passed 34 laws restricting access to voting between Jan. 1 and Dec. 7, 2021. In many states, gerrymandering is making it harder for people to be represented by individuals who come from their communities of interest. The League of Women Voters, that staid institution of voter registration, election forums, and debates, is part of legal action in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, North Carolina, and Wisconsin on behalf of voters who are facing barriers between themselves and their ballot boxes.

We in Washington, along with our fellow citizens in Utah and Oregon, have it easy. Our ballots are mailed to us. We can mail them back or we have ballot boxes across the county. I am thankful every day that our elected officials had the foresight to make voting easy and accessible.

Your vote matters. Vote. Do what you can to encourage others vote. Contact our senator and representatives in D.C. to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Donate time and money to organizations seeking greater representation in democracy. Write letters for organizations encouraging people to register and vote.

Volunteer this year. Help keep the light of democracy shining over this nation of ours.

Angela Gyurko
LWV Jefferson County
Unit-at-Large
PORT TOWNSEND