With the election in mind, and millions of hard-working Americans heading to the polls to vote, it begs the question: How are you voting?
Primary election is critical to note as part of the voting process. According to research published under Diego Morales, Indiana’s secretary of state, Lake County averaged a whopping 17% turnout rate during the 2023 Primary election where voters select candidates from their parties to campaign for office. These candidates are who registered voters elect into office during the general election on Nov. 5.
As someone who works as a campaign manager for local elections, Chairwoman of the Munster Republican Precinct Organization Betsy Mellon highlights the importance of changes among the community. As part of a carryover from the last election, debates about Ridge Road are of major importance to voters.
“Many residents brought the issue to the candidates about their confusion, and because of it, last year had a record-voter turnout,” Mellon said. “Your council takes this data into serious consideration and candidates have a strong resolve about their position of what their town will look like in 10 or 20 years.”
As part of the 2024 election year, Civics Club has been promoting ways to strengthen student’s freedom of speech. Louise Chickie-Wolfe, founder of the DOC 200 Project for Outstanding Citizenship, had came in on Oct. 7 to speak to the Civics Club about her program and how students can exercise their citizenship. Anticipating guest Constitutional Law speaker Katherine Garza next week, Civics Club sponsor Kristen Szafasz expresses how presentations strengthen students’ will of patriotism in relevance to these times.
“One reason why we had Ms. Chickie-Wolfe another speaker next week is to discuss how high schoolers can use their free speech,” Szafasz said.
Civic education is a required subject, but for good reason. Staying informed, involved, and educated about the world news zipping past not only exposes people to new ideas, but inspires others to get involved themselves.
“Find something you care about and come down the rabbit hole. And that means becoming informed, but also means showing up,” Gordon said. “You can’t be an expert on everything, you can’t go to every meeting, so match up your interests with the needs of society. Here you guys are on the cusps of graduation, and there’s nothing in our building that isn’t walking in that direction. It’s all about what you’re gonna do when you leave these doors. Matching up your interests, developing those interests, and then finding where that fits into the world is the essence of arete.”