[etni] Voting in US Elections

Greetings all,

I agree with Esther that these current elections are extremely important. Not 
only that, I think that it could be a great topic for discussions and even 
projects (when the Irgun permits them again). 

However, if you are not registered in the one of the 50 states or the District 
of Columbia, your vote is next to worthless. Presidents are elected by the 
Electoral College, whose members are chosen by the vote in the states and DC. 
(If there is a tie, then it goes to the Congress.) If you vote at an embassy, 
your vote is added to the general total, but does not influence the Electoral 
College in any way.

The only worth is when they write, after the election: Mr. X won because of the 
electoral vote, despite Mr. Y's winning the general count.

If you are registered to vote in one of the states or in DC, I hope you have 
all requested, received, and returned your absentee ballots. 

Esther mentioned Bush's stealing the 2000 election via voting fraud. You may 
all want to read the new book entitled "Loser Take All" by Mark Crispin Miller 
about how the Republican Party has been, and still is, systematically 
disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of voters across the United States, on 
the assumption that most of them would vote Democratic. You can see a very 
interesting interview with Miller on the Bill Moyer's Journal of Oct. 18 via 
PBS or iTunes.

I bring up the issue of voting fraud so you will be able to tell your students 
that: yes, the USA can also be a pretty corrupt place when it comes to 
politics. As Lasker wrote: Politics is who gets what. When/if you speak with 
your students about the current US elections, you have to explain who has been 
getting the biggest piece of the pie for the last eight years (or all the way 
back to Regean and the insane policy of deregulation) and how that will 
influence people's vote.

Of course, I wouldn't dare suggest for whom to vote on our non-political 
professional list.  ;-)

Jimmy
  


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Esther Revivo - estherrv@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Americans-- VOTE

I hope I won't be abusing this forum if I divert attention from our 
professional issues. I was shocked today when another American citizen told 
me she isn't planning on voting in the upcoming American election.

I am not saying a word about for WHOM you should vote either. in the 
upcoming municipal elections or the US elections. However, in 1990, (when I 
personally believe that Gore won but brother Jeb did some hanky panky in 
Fla. to help brother George steal the election,) we all saw that a mere few 
hundred votes can decide even a major election.

Witness the recent Kadima primaries, when despite the media having made a 
laughingstock out of Mofaz, he almost DID gain the percentage of votes that 
he said he would. And, if every registered Kadima voter had taken the 
trouble to vote, despite the media bias, who knows what the outcome would 
have been???

We teachers know that we are often responsible for molding the next 
generation of our country. People the world over die for the privilege to 
vote. So how in good conscience can any of us be apathetic? It is not just a 
right, I believe, but a duty. If you don't vote, I personally feel you don't 
have the right to complain about the outcome neither here nor abroad. "Put 
up or shut up," was
the creed by which I was raised.

On a practical note, I already downloaded the forms I had to ages ago. If 
you haven't done so and wish to vote, contact the American embassy and ask 
what you can do at this stage.

American citizens may contact the American Citizen Service section at:
amctelaviv@xxxxxxxxx

For further details on the section please visit their Home Page at:
http://israel.usembassy.gov/consular/acs/index.aspx

For all other questions:
ac5@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Esther Revivo
Netivot

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