Articles

BY: Linda Pelfrey, Phone Navigator, Goodwill Easterseals Miami Valley

I fondly recall the first time I was able to vote. This was many years ago.  As a young woman who is blind, my options for casting my vote were limited. There was no guarantee of a private and independent means for voting. I spent hours going over the issues and candidates for that year with my parents. My mom accompanied me and assisted with the process. It was not perfect, yet I felt empowered and I bounced joyously out of the polling place. For some years between then and now I skipped the process.  Eventually, I came back around to the knowledge that as a woman with a disability of blindness, I must use my voice to affect desired change. That said, every person must have the option to privately vote without sighted assistance.

Every voter deserves a way of assessing the overwhelming amount of information about candidates and issues. As well, every voter deserves the opportunity to vote independently without barriers. Accessible websites to persons with disabilities is imperative. In my case I use text to speech programs. Other potential barriers include transportation to polling locations and poll workers that may not be familiar enough with how to use the accessible voting machines or to evaluate if they are operating properly. As a voter with a disability, I desire an experience without barriers. This is the real world and not every experience goes well, but when it does not, we must speak up and ask for the change we need. This is a work in progress, and we must continue a path toward removing barriers for all. Unlike the young woman who voted for the first time, I now have options for privately casting my vote and using my voice.  So many of my friends with varying disabilities are still struggling to vote, so we have work to do

In however we choose to vote our participation matters. When I speak with other people who are blind and visually impaired, my message is to do what works in your particular situation. So many of my friends with varying disabilities are still struggling to vote, so we have work to do. Sometimes fighting barriers can feel exhausting. The younger me gave up for a time and that will not happen again. I will powerfully continue to cast my vote.  And who knows, I might just bounce out of my polling place with the enthusiasm of someone who recognizes she is voting her well researched choices because I have access to the same information as sighted voters.

By: Nan Baker, Leadership Ohio Board Member

I can speak first hand as an elected official to the importance of voting.  In my community of Westlake, I first began my public service as a grass roots candidate organizing local supporters and walking door to door talking directly to thousands of neighbors listening to their concerns and issues.  Elected to the Westlake Board of Education serving from 1996-1999 and continuing my elected service from 2000-2008 as a Westlake City Council member, my experience brought me closer to understanding my constituents needs and concerns and prepared me for the office to which I was later elected. After my 13 years of local public service, I ran for the Ohio House of Representatives.  Always remembering my service on school board and city council, my local grass roots stayed with me throughout my eight years serving as State Representative.  In my current elected position as a member of the Cuyahoga County Council, my role at the Ohio House enhanced my understanding to serve on the County level. During my entire service in public office, I was also a small business owner for over 37 years.  That too, was instrumental in understanding what small businesses endure as they work hard every day to advance their business and create jobs for others.

Having a broad understanding of elected service from the local level to the State House, allows me to understand that every vote and every voice matters.  Talking with members of our community on a regular basis, I do my best to reinforce the message to voters that they have the power to select those to represent them on every level of government. There’s a responsibility to learn about the candidates and issues before you cast your vote. When you’re ready, take the time to vote and let your voice be heard!

By: Todd Kleismit, Leadership Ohio Board Member

What is our civic responsibility? It is a question I would never have pondered as a young man growing up near Dayton and cannot recall anyone ever positing such a question. Well, let’s start asking this question of each other – starting today.

Election 2020 will be my ninth presidential election as a voter. In this decidedly era of divisiveness and political polarization, leaders should strive to try to be a countermeasure to this most destructive tendency in our civic space. As for me, I have voted for five presidential candidates from one side of the aisle and three times for the candidate from the other side. I tend to be a pretty good bellwether – in reverse! In eight presidential elections, I voted for the winner just twice. My vote comes with very little ideology, which appears to be way out of step with many of my fellow citizens. While much of my social media feed is filled with messages of vitriol, finger-pointing and name calling, I’m in favor of such exciting issues as functional government, procedural democracy and democratic pluralism. The bumper sticker on the back of my car is far from inspirational, but I think is testimony to where we are as society today: Stop Fighting, Start Fixing (the mantra of the nonprofit organization No Labels).

So what is our civic responsibility? We will not all find answers in the same place. Your life experiences coming into Election 2020 are different than mine. But here is something I hope we can all see through the same lens – let’s look at this long experiment in representational democracy as a verb, not as a noun. Elections are participatory, not static. Is it enough to just vote? Only you can answer that, but it certainly is the least we can do to contribute.

If you and I are coming into Election 2020 as civic leaders, I would like to suggest that our civic responsibility is much more than voting. If you are reading this, you are a civic leader – no question about it! Rather than showing up as a partisan, why not show up as a civic leader? Consider the many voluntary options:

• Volunteering on a campaign or issue
• Contributing financially to one or more campaign
• Hosting a fundraiser for a campaign or issue
• Signing up to be a poll worker
• Be a voice of reason (and fact checker) if you’re on social media
• Run for office yourself!

I ran for office once (1993) while a college student and was elected to the local city council for a two-year term. It was a wonderful civic experience and a hopeful exercise that I would not trade for anything. I won that election by 20 votes and can’t help but wonder how my perspective would be different had I instead lost by 20 votes. What a privilege it was to serve thousands of people in local elected office! While knocking on doors in search of friendly voters one day, a fellow college student explained why he wasn’t going to bother voting. “My beer will be cold no matter who gets elected,” he said. His retort served as a sobering reminder of the apathy that leaders need to face head on.

I remember my mother once warning me about my growing involvement in politics decades ago: politics will sometimes break your heart. This is true. My heart has broken many times and I do understand why so many are cynical of politics or look at elections as nouns, awaiting the outcome as a passive participant. I get it. What is our civic responsibility to each other? Only you can truly answer this from where you stand. A former state legislator once told me that Ohio is truly run by about 10,000 people. He was talking about the political elite of mayors, state legislators, the attorney general, business leaders, chambers of commerce types, etc. He was not saying that’s the way it ought to be, but it was the way it was in his eyes. Whether that is accurate or not, Ohioans have so many options, so many choices. You don’t have to do everything, but one of the great advantages of this long experiment in participatory democracy is that we can all do something. Somewhere in your community, people have decided to step into the void and run for office to represent you at the local, state or federal level. The choice is yours to ensure that voting and elections are verbs, not nouns. Don’t be the cynic who tells that candidate or officeholder that your beer will be cold no matter who gets elected!

By: Anne Trinh, Senior Program Manager, Addiction Innovation Fund, OSU College of Public Health

Nearly 100 years ago, on August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, giving women the right to vote and representation. In 2016’s presidential election, women accounted for 55% of the electorate. Additionally, the number of female voters in recent elections has exceeded the number of male voters.
As an immigrant and a woman of color, I exercise my right and privilege to vote with diligence and respect and admiration for the many activists that made it possible. This October, I plan to vote early in person in Franklin County, which starts October 6; some of my friends will be voting early via mail. Given public health concerns regarding COVID-19, managing work and personal responsibilities, or just surprises of life, I deeply appreciate the options for early voting we have in Ohio.
When I vote, I consider what’s best for my community locally and statewide, which might not be what’s best for me, and vote for our collective good, not individual wants. I try to pay attention to disparities in health and well-being as well as issues concerning the environment. I vote for myself and for what I believe can contribute to safe, healthy, and thriving communities throughout Ohio and the country.
Let’s make this year’s turnout better than all the previous years!

Click here for information on the League of Women Voters

By: Bhuwan Pyakurel, City Councilman, Reynoldsburg, Ohio

I often remember the day where my class teacher wrote 08/08/88 on the black board’s right-hand corner.  I was a third grader in my elementary school in Bhutan. This was my last day at school in Bhutan. Within months, we were told that schools were closed, and that we were to stay home. Although I was not sure why the schools were closed, I was happy that I didn’t have to go to school. 

In an early June morning the next year, my three siblings and I were to leave our home for an unknown destination. Our parents had left home a few weeks before, under the pretense of going to the Sunday market. It was clear to us later that they had actually escaped from being persecuted by the Royal Bhutan army. As our parents did not return, my siblings and I were forced to leave too. Four of us left our home. The destination was unknown, and so was the route we would need to take. We boarded a bus with the hope of meeting our parents very soon. Fortunately, we were able to meet with them in India after several days of efforts put in by unknown well-wishers on the Indian side of the border. 

This story is common to thousands of other Bhutanese and other New Americans who have arrived in this country after fleeing from persecution. I get reminded of this experience when I think of voting and the right to vote. After being evicted from Bhutan the question “why me?” kept troubling me. As a child, I had heard stories of the Royal Bhutan Army burning houses, confiscating property, arresting people for no reason or even killing them while in custody. With these questions unanswered, we survived a humiliating life in India for weeks when finally, the Indian police bundled us up in trucks and dumped us in the border of Nepal. 

This was how thousands of Bhutanese people arrived in Nepal where we lived as refugees in the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees-administered camps. An estimated one-sixth of Bhutan’s population was forced to become refugees. It took me years to understand that Bhutan had evicted the Nepali- speaking Southern Bhutanese citizens because they belonged to a different identity group than what the king and the ruling elites belonged to. The rulers thought that the Nepali speaking southern Bhutanese, who are -mostly Hindus, would not be a best fit in its “one nation, one people” assimilationist royal policy.

The Bhutanese refugees tried for a dignified repatriation to their country of citizenship. Bhutan was successful to prevent our return. It had encouraged its citizens not to accept us. The refugees, tired of humiliation in the refugee camps, were looking for other durable solutions when the offer of resettlement in selected western countries, including the United States, came. 

I was thrilled when I heard about the news of resettlement! Thanks to the people and the government of the United States of America! This country not only gave us a place to live but also a great opportunity to thrive and realize the American dream, which millions around the world hope for.

I grabbed the opportunity to opt for resettlement in the US. After a thorough vetting procedure, I arrived on June of 2009. The moment I entered the US, I became a former refugee. That is one of the best changes of my life. The unwanted title which de-humanized me for more than 18 years, was no longer a part of my identity. Being naturalized and becoming a US citizen in 2015 was the best moment for me. 

During the entire process, I was filled with emotion and cried a lot! Every time I remember the day, I have nothing but thankfulness to this nation for giving me and thousands like myself in distress, a second chance! 

During the naturalization ceremony, a federal judge, who administered us the Oath, stated something that changed my life, a lot. She said that as newest citizens of this great nation we now had two very important responsibilities: One was to vote and the other was to run for public office! Ever since I heard about these two responsibilities, I feel that I have very important duty towards this nation! Thereafter, I have always ensured that I vote in all elections and in 2019 I ran for public office. It is the greatness of the American people that got me elected to the Reynoldsburg City Council, making me the first Bhutanese American to be elected in any public office in the United States of America. 

To me, voting means freedom! In the US, a citizen has the ability and freedom to choose a person of their choice to govern the country. Although it may sound natural and simple to many, it must be realized that not all people around the world have that right. This is a country where a former refugee can become an elected official and serve the nation. This is a very rare distinction, characteristic to the United States of America. 

This November, or even earlier, I encourage everyone to vote to exercise their freedom and support democracy.  

New Americans and the US Presidential Election 2020: What is at Stake?

By:  Paul Koomar, Mayor of City of Bay Village, Ohio

Growing up I never had a vision of serving in an elected office.  I always enjoyed volunteering, but politics was never front and center in my mind.  In 2000, I was approached to fill a vacant city council seat for our town. After some thought I decided to interview for the opening.  Eleven residents applied for the ward council seat.  It was an honor to be selected and I subsequently ran for reelection in the 2002 general election. A few elections later, I moved into the role of city council president and then into the current position of Mayor.  

I enjoy politics at the local level because ideas and visions for improving our city can become reality with some hard work and persistence. Communicating with residents is key and something that I truly enjoy.  The volunteering I have done earlier in my life has turned out to be good practice for the give back in the public arena.  While there are competing interests which create spirited meetings, listening to and understanding other viewpoints is very important in order to resolve issues and move the city forward.  Early on I learned that it was important to try and make the right long-term decision. This can be tough at the time, but it has paid dividends in the long run.  People appreciate honesty and they come to respect your decision making once they realize you have their best interests in mind.  

I would encourage those who like to help others to become involved in your community.  If you are unsure whether elected office is right for you, consider becoming a member of board and commission at the local level. These positions are appointed and can be a good springboard into elected office. That’s where I got my start- giving back to the community through our Parks and Recreation Commission.