Means, Motive and Opportunity: Your Vote Matters

“Means, motive, and opportunity” is a short cut TV version of the three aspects of a crime needed for a TV conviction. Means is the ability to commit the crime, motive is the reason to commit the crime, and opportunity is the chance to commit the crime. When this formula is applied to voting, do we have all three aspects for voting successfully? 

MEANS: The Ability

While a few people today do indeed lack the physical ability to go to their polling places, the absentee ballot is a viable option with a bit of forethought and planning. People have fought, battled and died for you to have the right to vote and now, more than ever, the ability to vote is present and imperative. Consider these conquered hurdles: 

• 1790: Only white male adult property-owners have the right to vote.
• 1870: Black men had a constitutional right to vote starting in 1870. The right existed in theory in the South, but they were not able to use it in practice until the 1960s.
• 1920: Women were able to vote in presidential elections.
• 1972: 18-20 year olds vote for the first time – the following people are now ages 57-59:
  • Paul Allen, Microsoft co-founder
  • Tom Barrett, former Milwaukee mayor and Wisconsin congressman who ran against current Scott Walker in the November 2010 general election
  • Howard Stern, Shock jock

MOTIVE: The Reason

Leave our country a better place than when you found it.

Vote because you have the freedom to vote. Vote because you want a better life for yourself and your family. Vote because your kids learn by example. Vote because you are a part of society on local, national and global levels whether you care or not. Vote because the world around you matters to all of us on an everyday basis. Vote to give you and your ideas the power to be heard. Elected candidates and passed issues will then represent the sum of our voices as a group, furthering our society as a whole. Vote with your heart, intelligence and research along with the intent to further the greater good of the world that we all share. Vote because even a seeming underdog can rock the world. 

OPPORTUNITY: The Chance:

Prepare today to add your voice and register for the next opportunity, even on Election Day at your polling place! Voting chances happen often and affect change on multiple levels, including schools, cities, counties, states, and our nation. We are not pawns of life waiting for someone else to determine our course, nor should we be. Your chance begins today! (See City of Hudson Voting Information). 

Your vote does matter!

There really is no excuse not to vote! Think about this: If you would rather have others make your choices for you, you've already made a choice says the band Rush in their song Freewill: 

“You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice
You can choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill
I will choose a path that's clear
I will choose freewill”

Please leave our place on Earth better than when you found it by using the means, motive and opportunity to vote.