Hello Internet!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween and enjoyed the conclusion to spooky season. I know for many it wasn’t the Halloween they were planning on having at the start of the year, but 2020 is the year where we just try our best. Anyway, thanks to all of you wonderful people, October was my best month in terms of views on the website, so thank you so much! It really means the world to me that people all over the world continue to read my stuff and seem to like it. Speaking of which, let’s quickly talk about the pieces I’ve published this past week before moving on to this week’s Weekly Blog. Last Sunday, I published a Weekly Blog talking about Halloween Candy. It’s always fun to talk about some of my favorite and least favorite types of candy. Also this is a reminder that Halloween candy is one sale now that Halloween is over so make sure you buy some discounted candy bars. On Wednesday, I published a Poem titled “Vampire Bite.” Dark figures with sharp fangs, immortality, and unquenchable bloodlust. What’s not to like? On Friday, I published a Writing Prompt Piece titled “Small Town Roots.” A small town Sheriff ends up investigating the disappearance of three teenagers. She ends up checking out the town’s old, abandoned mines but finds something horrifying inside. Finally, on Saturday, I published Two Sentence Horror Stories #4. It’s been a Halloween tradition since I started publishing pieces online to write Two Sentence Horror Stories for Halloween. I highly recommend reading those as well as my other Two Sentence Horror Stories because there are some real gems in all four Halloween posts. If you are still in the Halloween mood and want to read some spooky stuff, I highly recommend checking out any or all of those pieces.
Now today is November 1st and we are only two days away from the US Presidential Election. I know I’ve talked a lot about the Election in the past few months and that this might isolate some of the international readers, but I truly believe that this election is important. Honestly I believe every election is very important. Presidential, Governors, Mayors, and City Council Members are all elected in elections, but sometimes these elections are overlooked. Obviously there is a lot of buzz around Presidential Elections, but local elections are also very important. There are candidates all the way down the ballot as well as state wide propositions and local levies that may impact your lives in big ways. All of this to say that every election is important and this one is very very important. However if you want to participate in this important election you are running out of time.
Now voting rules differ from state to state like I’ve said before and I obviously can’t talk about every state, but across the board, November 3rd is the last day to vote. That is Election Day and if you don’t vote then, you will miss out on making your voice heard. If you want to still vote, it’s important to have a plan on when you can vote and how you are going to vote. I highly recommend using a website like Vote.org to find out all the specifics about where you can vote in person before Election Day, where you can drop off your already completed ballot, or where you can vote on Election Day. If you requested an absentee ballot and have not mailed it in, I would recommend NOT mailing it in. At this point you need to fill it and drive it to a ballot drop off location. Due to this year’s meddling with the Post Office, it’s very possible that even if you mail it out, it might not be counted due to a delay in mail delivery. We don’t want your vote being thrown out over something you can’t control. Also if you plan on voting early, be prepared for long lines. I know that it differs from place to place but all over the country, people have been waiting in long lines to cast their vote. If you are prepared to wait, you won’t be discouraged if you see long lines and you’ll be pleasantly surprised if their aren’t any lines. We can have a whole discussion on long lines for voting, but for right now it’s just important to know that you may be waiting hours to vote.
If you are like me, you’ve been bombarded by political ads and people begging you to vote, and I really don’t want to add to that. But yet, I’m here begging you to vote because I know how important it is and I really really want you to make your voice heard. 2020 has been quite a disastrous year and I know that sometimes the news is sometimes so overwhelming that it numbs my brain and I just want to give up. However, the election is a way for everyone to use their power to enact change and try to make 2021 better than 2020. You get to join with your fellow Americans and use this sacred right to tell the government who you want in charge and in what direction you think the country should go. People sometimes say that one vote won’t make a difference or their vote doesn’t really count, but when hundreds or thousands of people all think that and stay home, the election can be drastically changed. Some elections do come down to just a handful of votes and I’ve even heard of elections that end in ties which are decided by a coin flip. Literally one vote would have decided that election. You could be that vote!
What I’ll finish with is that you know yourself the best and you know how your life has been going. Ask yourself if you are better off then you were four years ago. Think about 2020 and the state of the country. Think about the direction the country has been in and what direction it could go. Think about the best case scenario if you don’t vote and the worst case scenario if you don’t vote. Is it worth the risk? Only you can decide that. I personally believe that you should exercise this right that many Americans take for granted and you should use this power to try to create a better world for yourself and the people you care about at the very least. Critics might say that a vote doesn’t hold that much power, but to that I say that the government doesn’t count the votes of people who don’t show up. They only care about the ones who do. It doesn’t matter if a politician is elected by only 10% of the possible voters. As long as they get more votes then their opponent, they see it as the will of the people. If you stay home and don’t go out to vote, you are actively saying that you don’t care what the government does and I know there are many people out there that can’t afford that luxury. So, please do some research, figure out how you are going to vote, and then go vote!
Thank you for reading that Weekly Blog. Hopefully all my US readers will take this message to heart and go vote. To all my international readers, this should be the last time I talk about the upcoming Election. Well, at least in a Weekly Blog, probably. If you liked that Weekly Blog, feel free to give it a Like. You can also leave a comment down below telling me that you voted. That will bring some joy to my heart. If you are looking for something else to read you can start with the other pieces I mentioned at the start of the blog, or you can spend some time on the website checking out all the stuff I’ve published. You can also Follow me here on WordPress. I’m trying to grow the creative and positive community I’ve started and I would love it if you were a part of it. I really appreciate all the love and support I receive from readers new and old, so thank you.
Thanks again and I hope you have a wonderful week!
-Allen_The_Writer
Header Photo Credit to Pexels
https://www.pexels.com/photo/stickers-with-i-voted-inscription-and-flag-of-usa-1550339/
Allen The Writer 