If we want to see actual change, we need to start paying attention — and voting.
I found myself dreading canvassing. I’m a volunteer for a campaign in Parsippany’s local election, but I couldn’t leave the house recently without a wave of fear: “I’m just bothering people. They don’t care about this. Someone could be rude to me!” I’m not entirely wrong, people don’t care.
Voter turnout for local elections is historically low and less representative of your community. In an “off-year” like 2019 where all 80 state General Assembly positions were open in addition to numerous local seats, only 27% of the 6.06M eligible ballots in New Jersey were cast according to state data. That’s a huge difference compared to the 72% that showed up in 2020 when there was a presidential election.
In my door-knocking experience, some folks don’t know that the governor is up for re-election this year, let alone anything else in their district. People aren’t actively invested in politics at the state and local levels.
Instead of “don’t vote, don’t complain,” just vote and speak your mind! Local politics have more impact compared to national politics, but so many people forget to take part. From town council to school board, these are your fellow residents trying to make a difference that you will experience firsthand. They’re not perfect by any means, but are an accessible path to potentially enacting big change. The President doesn’t care about your thoughts on the water-sewer tax in Parsippany but your town council representative does.
When I canvass, I’m not trying to push my candidates on you. I just want to remind you to go vote. If you do vote, maybe consider these candidates I support as a fellow resident — but first, please start by actually caring.
To my Morris County neighbors, I want to remind you to vote on Nov. 2 (or from Oct. 23 to 31 thanks to the new early voting law). I encourage my fellow Millennials and the eligible Gen Z-ers to maintain the momentum from 2020. This is a big year for our state as our governor, state legislators and many other seats — including mayor and town council in my town of Parsippany — are up for election.
If you want to see change, start small and so close to home that you don’t even have to leave it. Start by opening the door to a canvasser, read the literature they leave, do some research. Take it a step further and go to a town hall or a meet and greet with the candidates and talk to them. And when the time comes, use your right to vote.
(After having a local citizen act rude to me while canvassing, I took my frustration around the situation and put it to use. I started writing this op-ed to share with fellow NJ residents through local media outlets prior to the 2021 election.)
