Battle for the heartland: Why every vote matters

I grew up in a family and community where voting was a big event. It was something you planned for, talked about and took seriously.

Grandma Evelyn always worked at the local polling place. When you walked into the old schoolhouse to cast your ballot, there was a potluck meal for all.

Grandma would take her homemade pimento cheese sandwiches and potato soup. Democrats and Republicans broke bread together.

Although voting was serious business and a civic responsibility, it was also a social gathering.

I was so excited the first time I cast my ballot. Voter registration was part of government class my senior year in high school.

We were learning about how our government worked, but registering to vote made it real. I wasn’t just studying democracy anymore. I was becoming part of it.

Somewhere along the way, the citizenry lost a little of that excitement and sense of responsibility. The political noise can be deafening, and some voters are frustrated with the choices.

Others feel like one vote won’t make much difference. Apathy is especially dangerous in rural America.

We know what it means to have a stake in our communities. We show up when a neighbor needs help, support the local school, volunteer for the fire department and pitch in when somebody’s barn burns or a family faces a tough time.

We understand that a strong community doesn’t happen by accident; it takes people willing to participate. Voting is another way to show up.

Decisions made at the local, state and federal levels affect our farms, small businesses, schools, roads, bridges, hospitals and access to healthcare.

They influence farm policy, property taxes, conservation programs, rural broadband and whether the next generation sees a future in our hometowns.

Rural America may have fewer people than the big cities, but that doesn’t mean our concerns are less important. It means we need to make sure we’re heard.

When we don’t vote, we give up our opportunity to help shape the decisions affecting our families and our future.

Voting doesn’t guarantee we’ll get everything we want; that’s not how democracy works. We won’t always agree with the outcome, and we certainly won’t always agree with one another.

But participating gives us a say in the process. And if we don’t like the direction things are going, voting gives us a peaceful and powerful way to express that.

You don’t have to love politics to be a good citizen. You don’t have to agree with your neighbors, either. You just need to care enough to participate.

When I walk into my local polling place, I think about Grandma, those familiar faces gathering to cast their ballots and that young girl who was so proud to vote for the first time.

I also think about my great-grandma, who was 30 years old before women were granted the constitutional right to vote.

Our rural communities are built on generations of people who simply took responsibility. Voting honors that tradition.

Just go vote.