A few weeks ago, I attended a meeting hosted by the Tompkins County Democratic Committee. In that meeting, I witnessed nearly 100 community members, Democrats from all over the county, working hard to campaign for candidates in the upcoming election. It inspires me to see people spend their free time trying to motivate humans for good causes. My biggest takeaway, however, was the lack of diversity in age and race.
My time in the meeting was spent listening while sifting through the faces in the virtual room that I could identify with. I counted one person of color not including myself out of about half of the people. It was really hard to tell if there was anyone in that meeting who was younger than 45 years old. I don’t want to think that young and diverse humans in Tompkins County are missing the important meetings, but I couldn’t help but think that it seems to be exactly that. So…
Here I am, writing on behalf of the Ulysses Democratic Committee, to ask you to remember that you have the power in your votes and your voices. In the next few weeks, the Ulysses Democratic Committee will be ramping up our campaign(ing) for democratic candidates. This is an important time for you, especially our young community of voters to show up. This year, we will have nine consecutive days of early in-person voting leading into the General Election.
Early voting will begin on Saturday, Oct. 24th through Sunday, Nov. 1st. The county is providing two locations for early voting, in the city of Ithaca at Ithaca Town Hall, 215 N Tioga St. and near the airport at Crash Fire Rescue, 72 Brown Rd. These locations will be open for voting on Monday and Wednesday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday, 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday voting starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m. and the weekend times are 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. for both Saturday and Sunday. Along with Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, some of the names you will see on the ballot are Leslie Danks Burke (State Senate), Tracy Mitrano (House of Representatives), Anna Kelles (State Assembly), Elizabeth Garry (NYS Supreme Court), Nancy Zahler (Ulysses Town Supervisor), Thomas Schlee (Ulysses Town Justice) and Mary Bouchard (Ulysses Town Council).
Consider taking all precautions and getting your vote secured early and in person to avoid those long lines on Election Day. Know your candidates, show up and vote when the voting happens, at the schools, as well as in government elections. Start there! If that isn’t enough for you, join a committee. There is room for you and your voice needs to be heard there as well as at the polls. Remember that you have the power to make a difference.
Tell some friends, make it a party.
Zaun Marshburn
Ulysses