Samir Shukla
By Samir Shukla
All the primaries around the country have wrapped. Mere weeks remain for the 2018 mid-term elections. Will the Democrats gain advantage in the House of Republicans? The Senate? Both are daunting tasks. Republicans may just hold onto the slim majorities, and give President Trump a boost for two more years.
The two parties are about as divided and divisive as they can get. There are internal battles in both parties, where partisans want to take them either further left or further right. We need more independents, more fiscal responsibility. I know progressives who are fiscally conservative. I know fiscal conservatives who are socially progressive. Libertarians can really be the third party that we need, but they can’t get past the hyper-individualism espoused by many Libertarians. The flip-flopping ideological labels give no comfort to the mainstream. We are a community of Americans. It takes many to run a town, school, city, county, country. Most people are a combination of both, really, multiple ideologies.
Heed the upcoming deadlines and dates listed below. Register to vote and then vote. Yes, it’s that important.
Election Deadlines:
North Carolina
October 13: Deadline to register to vote
Oct 17 – Nov 3: Early voting
November 6: Election Day
South Carolina
October 5: Deadline to register to vote in person
October 7: Deadline to register to vote online
October 9: Deadline to register to vote by mail (must be postmarked by this date)
November 6: Election Day
Georgia
October 9: Deadline to register to vote
October 15 – November 2: Early voting
November 6: Election Day
Virginia
October 15: Deadline to register to vote
November 6: Election Day
Useful websites:
North Carolina Board of Elections: www.ncsbe.gov
South Carolina State Election Commission: www.scvotes.org
Georgia Board of Elections: www.georgia.gov/popular-topic/voting
Virginia Department of Elections: www.elections.virginia.gov
Another very useful site is www.vote.org.
