Election 2026
Today, Sep. 18, 2026, is the first day open to in-person voting in Minnesota. The final day of voting is 46 days away, Nov. 3, 2026.
For Minnesotans everything you need to know can be found here, the website of the Minnesota Secretary of State. If you happen to live in my community, Woodbury MN, check SD47 for Democratic candidate information.
For those from states other than Minnesota, Vote.Gov can direct you to the official website of your state.
PERSONAL OPINION:
First, I did an epilogue to my 9-11-01 posts on September 12. if interested read here.
We voters have all of the power in our society. Each of us have equal power. In my opinion, citizens who do not vote, effectively are potentially ‘voting’ against their own self interest. Unfortunately we can easily be our own worst enemy, by not voting at all, or voting uninformed about candidates on our ballot, or voting for someone with zero chance of success. An instant decision – who to mark our ballot for, or even whether to vote at all – can have major consequences for us, as we are learning in real time. You cannot undo that single action, often for years.
There are many offices up for election this year, including every member of the U.S. House of Representatives. My local ballot includes candidates for over 30 positions. Write-ins are authorized in all cases. A few positions are non-partisan. (20 positions are for District Court Judges where there is only one candidate; one, which represents my area, has two candidates.)
I never ask a person how or if he/she voted. All that matters in the end is the collective result.
Personally, every post I’ve published at this site since 2009 – over 2000 posts in 17 years – has my personal declaration at upper right. I am a moderate pragmatic Democrat (“DFL” in our parlance: Democratic Farmer Labor)
A MAGA friend once challenged my “pragmatic” descriptor. There are a number of definitions of pragmatic. This definition fits for me. Pragmatism comes from work and life experience. I respect differences of opinion, and prefer resolution of problems over win-lose strategies (which I consider to be lose-lose in the long run).
I am a moderate Democrat, whose main political mentor was a progressive Republican Governor (Elmer L. Andersen), and whose hero was a Democratic President (Jimmy Carter) who was progressive but carefully conservative..
I will vote for Democratic (DFL) endorsed candidates this year as in the past because the. DFL party, generally, most closely subscribes to the “we” aspect of political thought on issues that matter: we all matter, not only the have’s. We know that reaching agreement can be messy. Life is not “king on the hill” game of our childhood.
The main opposition party has become totally subordinate to “me” – someone in control. “We” is essential for survival as a country like ours, born of liberty and freedom and a hard-won tradition of inclusion rather than exclusion. “Me” – winner take all – is antithetical to what we are as a country.
I will vote before Election Day, knowing who I am voting for and why. See you at the polls.
Vote as though your and our very future depends on how you vote, because it does….
COMMENTS (more at end):
from Carol: Great writing, Dick.
response from Dick: I have no issue whatever with what you say. We each have to assess our own environment and personality and do what we can. Whatever the case, my generation (I’m 86) is in the rear view mirror now, and the task is for our kids and grandkids to save their own future, hopefully relying at least a little on our residual wisdom. I admit being nervous letting go, but that’s how it has to be.
A NOT SO GENTLE REMINDER: Individual voters – lots of them – elected the reality we are living now, especially the current President and the Republican majorities in both U.S. House and Senate. Those voters who had the opportunity and made the free choice to not vote at all, or to vote for some candidate who had zero chance of success, in effect “voted” against their own interest.
The reality of the matter let alone the assumption of our election process that all votes are informed as to who and what they are voting for. We can never assume some votes did not know who or what they are voting for. Democracy assumes as well as presumes the existence and participation of an informed electorate and we must accept that and should accept that with relish. We cannot ever assume that because someone votes for a different candidate or issue that we do that they are not an informed voter as they have done whatever they believe to be necessary to inform and to determine their voting decisions.
A wonderful post and prevalent reminder that voting matters greatly. Thank you for sharing and I plan to vote this coming election with these words in mind.