Brew Hoop Public Service Announcement: Vote

By now, it’s no surprise that Election Day is just around the corner. With apologies to all our international members (who understandably won’t be voting by next Tuesday), I want to take this time to implore each and every one of our US-based Brew Hoopers to do one thing:

Vote.

It doesn’t matter which candidate you support; you can’t support them if you don’t cast a ballot for them. It doesn’t matter which policy you care about or what issues do or don’t affect you; if you’re a part of a community, you cannot ignore that community by shirking your civic responsibility.

So vote. And next time, vote again.

Every election cycle is important, not just the general ones. All the attention is on the Presidential race or various Congressional matchups, but 2016 and 2018 and 2020 and 2022 and so on all matter. State, county, and municipal offices impact your life more than you might realize. Everything, from the roads you drive on to the water that you drink, is affected by politics. Sports is no different; when the Milwaukee Bucks were considering their long-term future, ownership partnered with local and state government to establish a path to sticking around in Milwaukee. If you live in Wisconsin and you pay taxes, some of that money goes towards Fiserv Forum.

Was that the right way to do it? The representatives elected by us made that decision. Should your taxes go towards construction of a new arena, or somewhere else? We make our voices heard by participating in our democracy, and for those who feel that our system needs changing, apathy and inaction are not the prescription for what ails us. Everybody has something that’s important to them? What’s important to you, and how are you going to try to make it happen?

So put together a voting plan. Reach out to your friends and family, and ask them if they have a voting plan. If they don’t, help them find their resources. MyVote Wisconsin is the best place to start if you’re a Wisconsinite, but all 50 states (and the District of Columbia) have similar resources, and each state has different rules about early voting.

If you took advantage of mail-in voting (or absentee voting, they’re the same thing), be sure that you DROP YOUR BALLOT OFF AT THE CORRECT LOCATION in order for it to be counted. At this point in the timeline, the USPS can’t be expected to deliver a ballot on-time to ensure that it counts. Take your civic duty into your own hands and make sure that it counts.

Be informed. Be prepared. Be proactive.

Vote.