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Viewpoint: Election 2012: Making our voices and votes heard

The debate season is underway and Americans across the country are very focused on the upcoming election. With the edge of the fiscal cliff now less than 90 days away and Congress in a perpetual partisan gridlock, the need for Americans to become informed on the issues at hand and make their voices heard this election is more important than ever.

The right to vote is the foundation of any democracy and one the United States has fought for time and time again. The passage of the fifteenth, nineteenth, and twenty-sixth amendments ensure that all of-age Americans, regardless of race or gender, have a constitutionally protected right to vote for the leaders of this country. It is discouraging that every citizen does not take full advantage of the right millions of people in countries across the globe do not have. A study conducted by George Mason University revealed only 62 percent of Americans voted in the 2008 elections, compared to the United Kingdom which has steadily turned out above 70 percent, according to Idea International.

The only way to ensure our elected officials will take action on the important issues we are currently facing is to vote and make our voices heard. If we want serious action taken by a Congress that won’t work across the aisle, 62 percent just won’t cut it. Indeed, this is an extremely important time for the aerospace and defense industry and the country as a whole. As evidence of our industry’s centrality to this election campaign, an AIA-commissioned poll conducted by Harris Interactive found that four out of five likely voters in critical battleground states want our leaders in Washington, D.C., to find an alternative to sequestration before the November elections. That won’t happen. But if we continue to make our voices heard, a solution to sequestration is possible in the upcoming lame duck session of Congress.

Our community can also act prior to the election to get our elected officials to focus on the most pressing issues of the day. Please take the opportunity right now to visit http://act.secondtonone.org/ to write your Congressional representatives and the White House about the urgent need to defend our military and economy from the reckless cuts sequestration will trigger on January 2.  And please take the time to vote either by early voting or in person at the polls on November 6.