Perhaps by the time you read this article you will have already voted in the
August 6, 2026 Republican/Democrat/general election. There will be another opportunity to vote in the state/federal election on November 3, 2026.
Many people apathetically believe, “My one vote won’t make a difference.” It does seem true, just by the number/percentage of eligible voters, that the smaller, more local an election the more weight a single vote carries. But what if everyone thought his/her vote didn’t matter? No one would vote, no candidates would be elected, and our democratic process would be negatively impacted.
I have known of at least two elections where a candidate won by only one vote. Without that one vote, there would have been a tie, with other action needed to determine a winner.
Many of you, Dear Readers, will remember “conjugating” in high school. Don’t get excited—I’m not referring to an immoral or illicit activity. To “conjugate” is “to give in prescribed order the various inflectional forms of . . . especially of a verb” (Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conjugate Retrieved July 28, 2026).
Conjugation can be very complex, but for the present discussion we’ll keep it simple. In the present, I/you/we/they VOTE, and she/he/it VOTES. In the past, I/you/he/she/it/we/they VOTED, and in the future, I/you/he/she/it/we/they WILL VOTE.
In the present, you can VOTE early in the district to which you are registered. Voting is a major way citizens by which citizens exercise their right to have a say in who represents the way the country is governed.
Voting is a chance to do good, though the meaning of the word “good” is relative to each individual. Have you ever thought, Dear Reader, that it might actually be a sin not to vote? If it is good to vote, James 4:17 (KJV) says: “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” According to Evang. Anabelle Thompson, there are at least thirty-five Bible verses that focus on how evil prevails when the good do nothing. (Source: https://believersrefuge.com/bible-verses-evil-prevails-when-the-good-do… Retrieved July 28, 2026)
In the past, I hope you exercised the right to vote every time you had a chance. I was almost ecstatic when I had the opportunity to vote for Ronald Reagan in my first presidential election in 1984. I have voted in many elections since—local, state and national—but none have brought me a greater sense of purpose and fulfillment. Sometimes I was happy with the results, other times I was disappointed.
It has been pointed out many times by some that those who don’t vote forfeit their right to “gripe” about the results. This is based on the reasoning that had enough nonparticipants voted, perhaps the outcome would have been different. As the owl on the old Tootsie Roll Pop commercial said, “The world may never know.”
Never fear, Dear Reader. If you have chosen in the past to forfeit your right to vote, you can enact the future tense by declaring you WILL VOTE. Our “Founding Fathers” laid the groundwork for America’s democratic process of voting. That process, as is true of anything manmade, is not perfect; however, though questioned, challenged and debated more than ever in recent elections (particularly at the national level), that process has brought our country through 250 years of successful self-government.
Remember Lincoln’s words in his Second Inaugural: “With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on . . .”
Even during the Civil War, the presidential election continued in those states that remained loyal to the Union. In a speech given on November 10, 1864, Lincoln stated:

But the election was a necessity.
. . . the election . . . demonstrated that a people's government can sustain a national election, in the midst of a great civil war. Until now it has not been known to the world that this was a possibility. It shows that, even among candidates of the same party, he who is most devoted to the Union, and most opposed to treason, can receive most of the people's votes . . . Gold is good in its place; but living, brave, patriotic men, are better than gold. (Source: https://www.nps.gov/liho/learn/historyculture/1864election.htm Retrieved July 28, 2026)
Glory, glory, hallelujah. His truth is marching on.
I leave you, Dear Reader, with the Question of the Week and a few thoughts on voting that have come my way through email throughout the past few years.

ANSWER TO QUESTION OF THE WEEK # 95
If being young is beautiful, what is being old? (ANSWER: Old age is comfortable and relaxed.)

QUESTION OF THE WEEK # 96
Why do people get heavier as they get older? (See the next “Mincey’s Musings” in historicunioncounty.com for the answer.)

EMAIL THOUGHTS ON VOTING

I believe you should be able to prove who you say you are when you vote.
--LA State Sen. John Kennedy

“We need an election day, not an election month.”
--LA State Sen. John Kennedy

A question you might ask your teenager(s): “Do you agree with the current legal age for drinking, smoking, and voting?”

“If God wanted us to vote, he would have given us candidates.”
--Jay Leno

I don't like political jokes, but a lot of them get elected!