Voters in Syracuse detail why they believe voting is important for both themselves and the nation at large.(c) 2022 Yale Kolin

City of Syracuse

Voters Choose For Now and For The Future

By Yale Kolin

Video

REPORTER: Erwin First United Methodist Church is just one of the places where people across Syracuse and the country are making their voices heard today, and there is no shortage of issues to vote on. Retired teacher Ellen Galgano believes these issues make it imperative for women to vote.
ELLEN GALGANO: Women fought so hard for the vote – I can’t understand a woman who would not vote, especially this year with abortion on the ballot.
REPORTER: Ali Grandy is an inventory specialist for a medical cannabis dispensary, but she is also a mother, and she hopes that this Election Day will leave an impact on her child.
ALI GRANDY: I want my kid to see me voting – I think that’s important, really, just to, like, display it for the next generation.
REPORTER: Many Americans call the act of voting a civic duty. But Ellen Galgano believes that voting is much more than a duty.
ELLEN GALGANO: Not only is it our civic duty, it’s a civic gift that we have, to vote. I mean, there are so many people around the world who don’t have this privilege to vote.
REPORTER: Polls close at 9pm tonight, and until then, people will continue to step up to vote. This is Yale Kolin for Democracy in Action.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (DIA) – Millions of Americans are headed to the polls today to make their voices heard, and among those millions of Americans are a number of Syracuse residents who are visiting the polling place at Erwin First United Methodist Church. With important elections concluding today in Onondaga County, these citizens are exercising their right to make their voices heard.

A great number of issues that affect Central New York and the nation at large have been debated in the weeks and months leading up to the elections, and these issues have informed the decisions of many voters. One such voter is retired teacher Ellen Galgano, who says she is voting to uphold women’s rights.

“Women fought so hard for the vote,” Galgano said. “I can’t understand a woman who would not vote, especially this year with abortion on the ballot.”

While people vote on the issues that are important to them now, many also believe that it is important to cast their votes so as to invest in the future. Ali Grandy works as an inventory specialist at a medical cannabis dispensary, but in addition to her occupation, she also has the job of being a mother to a child – a child whom Grandy took to the polling place with her. In casting her vote, Grandy is thinking of the future, voting not just to make her voice heard on issues that could impact future generations, but also exposing younger people to the civic process and empowering them to engage when they become old enough to vote.

“I want my kid to see me voting,” Grandy said. “I think that’s important, really, just to display it for the next generation.”

The right of the American people to make their voices heard has always been and remains today central to American politics and governance, and as a result, many see voting as a civic duty so as to uphold the American system that has prevailed for more than 200 years. Galgano, however, does not see the act of voting as merely a duty, but as something much grander and more important.

“Not only is it our civic duty,” Galgano said. “It’s a civic gift that we have, to vote. I mean, there are so many people around the world who don’t have this privilege to vote.”

Voters will be able to cast their votes until 9:00 pm tonight. Those who vote today, as well as those who have already voted, are continuing the tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation – the tradition of voting.

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