Trumped Up Voter Holiday

How so generous of Donald Trump to express a ‘demand’ that employees within his many organization get out and vote, offering them an hour to do so.

It’s a corporate mindset that there’s a responsibility for every registered voter to take part in his or her civic duty to participate in choosing the next President of the United States and every other candidate in federal, state and local elections.

I myself have been given that same ‘opportunity’ during my working years in a corporate setting. The offer was made to take an extended lunch period to make the employees’ voices heard by means of the ballot box.

Well, it sounds real good and patriotic but it still puts a burden on the employ to accomplish the duty within the time allowance. In my instance, the challenge was to get to and get back from the designated polling place for the district I was in. It would have taken 20-30 minutes in travel time. Who knew how long it would take to stand in line before I could stand inside the voting booth to cast my votes? There were, and never are, any guarantees.

Trying to make sure the ballot would be filled out and taking time to eat lunch is a challenge. If you haven’t returned to the work desk within two hours, questions would be asked and answered would in turn be questioned, if not verbalized then expressed by the look in the boss’ eyes.

I wasn’t the only one who would take that extra hour with the lunch period but not fulfill the intended directive. And working an 8 to 5 job it was too risky a deal to do it in the morning before the workday started and occasionally too much of a challenge to place the bet after work, with booths closing at 7, especially if you have other priorities, such as picking up kids.

For the Trump-ster, it’s more of a PR job to make the appearance that his generosity might be second in importance only to the vote count of employees. He can smile with determination, but it’s still the corporate attitude above and beyond all else.

Many states give citizens the opportunity to cast votes early but it’s common for many folks to ponder their choices until the General Election is actually upon them. Absentee ballots are another option but a lot of states have requirements that must be met before the request is honored, such as verification that the voter will be out of town or a handicap makes voting an obstacle.

There are free world countries that respect the rights of voters to make a selection of candidates who will directly affect their lives and the world at large. A national ‘holiday’ to give American citizens a respectful right to vote would be of such importance placed on July 4th, Independence Day.