The people speak
There's a reason tens of millions of Americans have already spent hours waiting to vote
This is the editor's letter in the current issue of The Week magazine.
The line from the polling place spilled out the door of the town hall, curled down the driveway onto the sidewalk out front, and extended nearly out of sight before making another turn into an athletic field. There it continued to grow. People sat in portable chairs or stood scrolling their phones or chatting with spouses or friends, patiently waiting, quietly radiating intent. No matter how long it took, they were going to vote, and vote early, and their votes were going to be counted. Two volunteers walked down the line with a few dozen boxes of pizza, handing out slices. "Someone donated them," one of the volunteers explained, squirting sanitizer into eager, outstretched hands. Inside, as people fed their paper ballots into the vote-counting machine, a veteran poll worker marveled at the mood. "Everyone seems so...happy," she said. After four years of listening, Americans were finally having their say.
So it went this week in thousands of polling places across the nation. In the midst of a rampaging pandemic, people put on their masks, packed some sanitizer, and exercised their central right as citizens — a right grown more precious because it's been threatened. Election turnouts in this country are usually disappointing, even embarrassing: Just about 55 percent of the voting-age population cast ballots in 2016, which left the U.S. ranked 26 out of 32 developed democracies for voter participation. But Americans have been given a vivid demonstration that voting matters, that who occupies the White House and Congress matters quite a lot, and that the freedoms and rights we take for granted aren't assured. Millions of people who couldn't spare a half hour to vote in 2016 waited half a day to cast ballots in 2020. In what has been a brutal and dispiriting year, the long lines of determined voters are an inspiring sight — proof of the enduring power of the democratic idea. It is your turn now. Speak. Vote.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
William Falk is editor-in-chief of The Week, and has held that role since the magazine's first issue in 2001. He has previously been a reporter, columnist, and editor at the Gannett Westchester Newspapers and at Newsday, where he was part of two reporting teams that won Pulitzer Prizes.
-
Today's political cartoons - April 20, 2024
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - papal ideas, high-powered debates, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 sleeper hit cartoons about Trump's struggles to stay awake in court
Cartoons Artists take on courtroom tranquility, war on wokeness, and more
By The Week US Published
-
The true story of Feud: Capote vs. The Swans
In depth The writer's fall from grace with his high-flying socialite friends in 1960s Manhattan is captured in a new Disney+ series
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
Israel hits Iran with retaliatory airstrike
Speed Read The attack comes after Iran's drone and missile barrage last weekend
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Is there a peaceful way forward for Israel and Iran?
Today's Big Question Tehran has initially sought to downplay the latest Israeli missile strike on its territory
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Sudan on brink of collapse after a year of war
Speed Read 18 million people face famine as the country continues its bloody downward spiral
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
How powerful is Iran?
Today's big question Islamic republic is facing domestic dissent and 'economic peril' but has a vast military, dangerous allies and a nuclear threat
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
US, Israel brace for Iran retaliatory strikes
Speed Read An Iranian attack on Israel is believed to be imminent
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
How green onions could swing South Korea's election
The Explainer Country's president has fallen foul of the oldest trick in the campaign book, not knowing the price of groceries
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Ukraine's battle to save Kharkiv from Putin's drones
The Explainer Country's second-largest city has been under almost daily attacks since February amid claims Russia wants to make it uninhabitable
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
India elections 2024: the logistics of world's biggest vote
The Explainer More than 10% of the world's population is registered for a historic democratic exercise, with PM Modi likely to dominate again
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published