Some think that the right to vote is a privilege, duty and obligation of American citizens, but with rights come responsibilities. These responsibilities were the focus of this semester’s first Conversation Project, held last Wednesday at the Christopher Center. Members from Valparaiso University Law School and the Project on Civic Reflection Steering
Committee host two sessions a semester, called the Conversations Project. Their mission is to provide a non-partisan forum where people can discuss controversial issues from an objective standpoint.
In the words of Valpo Law Professor Jeremy Telman, “We wanted an alternative form of conversation instead of having one Republican hack and one Democrat hack screaming at each other.” The project focuses on all sorts of political issues, but ‘tis the season for a presidential election and what better time to discuss the right to participate in the upcoming election.
“We have come through an entire election cycle since beginning the Conversations Project and thought we’d come back to the issue that is at the heart of our democracy,” said VU Professor Jennifer Hora. Hora was the moderator at the meeting last week.
There are three phases to the project, a small group discussion, panel discussion and a session for questions of the panel by participants. Last week’s panel included the Mayor of Valparaiso, Jon Costas, Jane Henegar, a member of the Indiana Bar Association who works for the Obama campaign, and Zora Ludwig. Ludwig came to the U.S. as an immigrant when she was six years old and became a citizen at the age of 19. She provided a different perspective on the right to vote and what it means to those who do not have that right.
The small group discussions were led by facilitators who asked primary questions about voting, but some discussions led to other issues as well. The discussion facilitators were members of
the Project on Civic Reflection Steering Committee. Facilitator and 2L, Arriel Stevens, asked one group about voting in the upcoming election and the conversation quickly moved from voting to issues regarding the Iraq war, health care, women’s rights and the economy. All of these issues were important to each person, but their responses were informational versus emotional.
In the second phase, the panel introduced themselves and discussed both their experiences with voting and what the right to vote means to them. A common theme amongst the panel was the problem of people not voting.
It became evident to Mayor Costas during his election campaign while going door to door just how many people would say they do not vote. The most common responses were, “My vote won’t affect the results,” and “Politicians are all crooks.” This motivated him to encourage more people to vote. He worked to send absentee ballots to students from Valparaiso who had left for college, but after sending 90 absentee ballots the problem became more apparent when only seven were mailed back.
“The common excuses for lack of participation are the result of indifference, self focus and cynicism,” Mayor Costas said. “Think of what people sac
rificed to give you this gift. The pain and suffering they endured is enough of a reason for everyone to vote.” He also listed his 10 benefits of voting. Some were the ability to engage, become more unified, setting a good example and most importantly, it will help the Cubs win the World Series.
Panelist Jane Henegar is also a big advocate for voting because it shows those were electing that we are paying attention. “Voting is a privilege and a right, but with rights come responsibilities. Use it or lose it,” Henegar said. “The Founding Fathers strongly believed that without voting democracy will die. It is essential people exercise control over those we give power because if we don’t, we allow abuse of that power.”
The process by which we are governed and how we are governed is the only thing that sets us apart from the rest of the world. Agreeing from experience was the third panelist, Ludwig. The sincere and severe realization of the importance of voting, which many take for granted, washed over the room while Ludwig told her story. Her parents brought her to the U.S. so she could have all the rights and privileges many who grow up here take for granted.
“The group sitting in this room had grandparents and great grandparents who died so you could have the right to vote,” she said. “Voting is your chance and my chance to change our government, or keep it the same. The point is, it’s our choice. Think of the obstacles people go through to become citizens and apart of this country’s future and many born and raised here do not even participate.”
Following the panel’s discus
sion, the floor was open for questions.
The panel provided in-depth responses about getting to know representatives, multiple party systems and how technology innovations have changed the political process as well as the degree of integrity in voting.
An issue regarding movements keeping people from voting was brought up by Valpo Law Professor, Edward Gaffney. According to Gaffney, “keeping someone from voting is fundamentally one of the worst violations of this democracy. Whether Republican or Democrat, I hope what comes out of this is a commitment to empower the franchise of voting. Encourage others to vote.”
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