“All these people are voting. Are you?”

I urge you all to vote on Tuesday 2 November. We need critical, pragmatic people at the polls to stand up for peace, equality and sustainability. Hate and fear-mongering - central to the messaging of candidates endorsed by personalities like Beck and Sarah Palin - depend on the uninformed to be deceived by extremism and the unengaged to fail to make their voices heard.

I have been told countless times by so many well-intentioned but voluntarily disenfranchised people as I’ve been working on the No on 23 campaign, “I’m not convinced that my vote counts. I’m just one person.” My first question to them is: “If you’re not voting, who do you think is? To whom are you giving up your power to make the decisions which will change the context of society and, consequently, your life?” My second: “How do you think any progressive change has ever been made in history?” When people have recognized their own influence by advocating for justice and truth, they have joined together in a united force to create sustainable communities driven by hope toward an equitable future. Voting, while by no means a perfect system, is a vital component to our influence. Yes, you ARE one person, and you should own your enormous potential to be an agent of change.