Turn the Tide! Vote with Pride!
Welcome to Voting Season 2024!
With the rise in anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, it seems as though every election for the last few years has been deemed the most critical; and it’s for a good reason. Heavy decisiveness between a two party system that make up the majority of the three different branches of our government: the legislative branch, the executive branch, and the judicial branch. While, as citizens, we have little direct say into who is put onto our judicial branch, we have an important role as democratic citizens to vote for members of the legislative and executive branch. In other words, we’re the ones in charge of voting for who is going to represent us in the House of Representatives and the Senate, and who is going to represent us as our president.
The cross-party conflict of controversial individuals looking to secure the presidency have left some question whether or not they should vote. Legislation being passed and decisions being made have left some people feeling helpless despite having people on their side be in seats of power. According to a poll released by Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics in fall of 2023, fewer individuals between the ages of eighteen (18) and twenty-nine (29) are likely to vote when compared to voter turnout in 2020, with only 49% – compared to 57% in 2020 – saying they “definitely” plan on voting in the presidential election (Harvard Youth Poll, 2023).
Whatever party you’re affiliated with, lower voter turnout could mean that someone who shares your values could miss their opportunity at being in office. While the numbers of voting intentions of younger people are important to consider, they shouldn’t be taken as definitive reflection of what this upcoming voting cycle will look like.
In terms of what NC citizens will be voting for, the government positions up for election are the President of the United States, the NC Governor, the NC Lieutenant Governor, NC Attorney General, the NC Commissioner of Insurance, the NC Superintendent of Public Instruction, the NC Treasurer, NC District Associate Justice, and a NC State Senate District seat. Your county may also have other positions up for election. If you’d like to look up definitions of any of the following positions to help inform your voting decision, BallotPedia has a great resource page that provides such definitions: https://ballotpedia.org/Chart_of_state_executive_officers.
With elections like these, it’s easy to focus only on the Presidential election, since this is the governmental position that many individuals are familiar with. However, the importance of local positions, such as the governor, is also paramount. While the Supreme Court and the legislation that comes out of the House of Representatives and the Senate is the supreme law of the United States, State legislation works to fill in the gaps of legislation and can often involve the creation of legislation unique to a certain State. An example of this is how, before the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision that same-sex marriage did not violate the Constitution, some States had laws that prevented same-sex couples from marrying while others had laws that permitted it. Current bans on gender-affirming care for transgender individuals, particularly transgender youth, also vary by State as there is no federal ruling on this matter. Each candidate for the different State offices will have differing opinions about the topics that are important to you. It’s important that you choose a candidate that you believe will keep your best interests in mind and make decisions that align with your own. While these candidates may not perfectly align with all of your beliefs, try to make an effort to determine which topics are deal-breakers for you, such as the candidate’s level of support for the LGBTQ+ community.
If there are other things about the voting process that you’d like to see us talk about, please feel free to send us an email through our “Contact Us” form, which can be found under the “About Us” section on our website.
Written by LGBT Center of Raleigh MSW candidate intern