Before I came to Ithaca 20 years ago, I voted in a friendly neighbor’s garage in San Diego. They set up voting booths where their convertible usually sat and offered lemonade along with the customary ‘I Voted!’ sticker when you finished. Over my time in Ithaca, I’ve voted in elementary schools, community centers and by mail from abroad. Now, because I am one of the faculty who live in Barbara McClintock Hall, I vote together with hundreds of Cornell undergraduates at Robert Purcell Community Center. No matter the election — and there are more than just national elections every other November — I am proud when I vote. This pride comes both from experiencing the collective agency that voting gives us in a democracy as well as from exercising the personal responsibility and judgment needed to cast my ballot. 

Together, our vote determines who many of our civic leaders will be and gives insight into what societal challenges we, collectively, prioritize addressing. Our democracy aspires to be a “government of the people, by the people, for the people,” where the powers of government are granted by citizens, the functions of the government depend on citizens........

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