"Our T.A.L.E, Our Time"
(Tracing a Legacy of Excellence)

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The importance of voting

Now that you know the history and the struggles the generations before us went through, why give up the opportunity to vote? We used to not even have a choice, and now that we do, why waste it? You might think that your vote may not matter, with all of the people voting. What if they think the same? If every person has this mindset, you’re giving your future to the other people's hands. Choosing not to vote is still a choice; a choice to let your voice be silenced and have others choose your future. Voting makes sure that the people elected reflect the values and priorities of the community. Every vote counts. Especially because someday, hopefully soon, women could start being leaders. Over the years, not ever has there been a woman in the leadership role. We might have won the right to vote, but why not try to win the right to lead? Some day, there will be more female leaders and officials. Women make up half of the world’s population, and we need to reflect that in leadership roles. diverse leadership gets rid of stereotypes of men being the only leaders and fixes the prejudiced history of women being viewed on a lower level than men. Help choose the future you and many others will be in, and place your vote!

Election Day: the vote for the future

Election day has been a significant day in everyone’s life for nearly 200 years. Election day is a day to vote for our future leaders, putting the chance to mold our future in our hands. Voting is important because your vote is your voice. Voting gives you a say to the future everyone will experience. To choose our future, we must learn about our past.

How did election day start?

Voting was not always allowed. In the 1700s, the founders of the United States allowed the states to choose who could vote there, and all of them chose a very specific group of people to vote: white males who owned property. Some states even made sure the men were Christian by doing “religious tests” so they could only let Christian men vote. During the 1800s reconstruction period after the civil war, congress created the fifteenth amendment of the constitution, which said that “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude,” basically stating that race or color should not be a factor to who can or cannot vote. However, though this was a law, multiple states (many from the south) put up barriers like poll taxes and literacy tests to lower voting among immigrants, native americans, african american men and more. Still, women were not able to vote. They did protests and activism, and in 1920, they won the right to vote with the nineteenth amendment of the constitution. In 1960, they were still making people pay poll taxes and things of such to limit voting from people of color, and they did not make white men pay the taxes because they called it “grandfather clauses” so they didn’t have to pay. 5 years later, the voting rights act was passed & people were now able to vote. Young people also got the right to vote another 5 years later when the voting age was changed from 21 to 18.

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