I know: for many people the national election feels like a Night of Excrement Theatre, and I agree. I am not thrilled about that part, either. But if nothing else, vote on the local level. It truly does matter. Your community will feel the effects, directly and immediately, in ways that federal elections rarely produce.
Mike Wessler at the Prison Policy Initiative wrote an excellent piece on how local races shape mass incarceration and why these elections deserve far more attention than they get. Politics have more impact on criminal justice than most people realize. And the offices with the most direct impact are the ones almost nobody shows up to vote in.
What an Elected Prosecutor Actually Controls
If you believe your county’s prosecutor is out of control — overcharging, refusing diversion, ignoring mitigating factors, treating maximum sentences as the default — understand what that office actually holds before deciding your vote doesn’t matter.
Democracy in Action: The Allegan County Proof of Concept
This is not theoretical. Allegan County voters just showed exactly how this works.
I have never seen so many people so happy as when she was voted out. It brought a community together. It was a powerful, documented reminder that elected officials have an obligation to listen to their constituents — or they will get the boot.
Incoming: Judge Emily Jipp, newly elected Allegan County Circuit Court judge, widely anticipated as an evidence-focused jurist who approaches the bench differently than her predecessors. That change happened because people showed up and voted.
Change is possible. You just have to organize and beat politicians at their own political games. Which, at their core, is all elected officials are playing.
What This Requires of You
No one in a political seat is going to listen to reason until their actual job is on the line. That is just the reality of how political systems work. Protests matter. Letters matter. Public record matters. But they matter most when politicians understand that the people writing those letters and filling those galleries will also be in the voting booth.
If a candidate does not want reform, they do not get my vote. Period.
If they do not want to uphold the constitution, or wield their power within reason — I will happily vote them out. I will vote them out so hard and go skipping through the parking lot afterward.
The pen is mightier than the sword. Especially when your pen bypasses a crappy, self-serving career politician’s bubble on a ballot.
Can you change the court system? I have decided yes. But it is going to take legislative work, voting, and likely volunteering with campaigns. Start a Political Action Committee. Inform the public how your local elected officials are bungling their jobs and what impact it has on communities. Exercise that First Amendment. Work it.
The life of someone you love may depend on who your county prosecutor and circuit court judge are. Those offices are on your ballot. Most people who could vote in those races do not. That is where the leverage is.
Get some sleep. Then get your rump to the poll. Because the people who benefit from the system staying exactly as it is are absolutely counting on you to stay home.
Go Vote.Additional Reading:
