Tip of the hat to http://all-hat-no-cattle.blogspot.com

Did I get your attention? Would the thought of books burning on an open fire in a newly picked field of Iowa corn be enough to get you off your couch and down to you polling place or county auditor’s office to vote? I surely hope so. Even though this is a real off, off year election it is extremely important.

We have school board elections and city office elections to be voted on November 7th. Because these elections are for the most local of offices, the issues for the most part should be very local. They should revolve around budget issues and choices of how to make our local governmental bodies more responsive to the local citizens.

But thanks to the so-called culture wars started by the MAGA party to control your lives and what kind of information the public can have access to even local governmental offices have been drawn into the culture wars. And now questions such as what bathrooms a student can use or what books are stocked in the school or city library are on the ballot. The folks at Iowa Starting Line have been doing excellent articles on what’s at stake around the state for weeks.   

And because there are nearly 400 school districts in Iowa and many more city halls it is nearly impossible to find out who is what in your local elections. While there have been some guides for Iowa’s major population centers most of us who live in rural Iowa are left to our own devices to find out which candidates will not be putting the torch to books or closing the local library.

We voted early last week. Before we took that trip to the auditor’s office I reacquainted myself with some old friends who are more attuned to what is going on in our town. These were friends who I knocked doors with and sat in meetings with working on policies. I knew I could trust their recommendations. I humbly suggest that if you are not sure consult friends you trust to be in favor of education, teachers and libraries that are not censored.

The day and time that we voted was a time that I would not have expected anyone to be at our courthouse. There were ten people there and a few more fluttered in after us. I was surprised. This is a real indication that people are paying attention. Unfortunately you can be sure that those who want to ban books, close libraries and see teachers pay cut will be voting. Please help those of us who want our kids to have access to information get the vote out.

Voting really makes a difference. As Iowa votes for city and school offices, Ohio is voting on whether women will have access to reproductive care or will they become a forced birth hell for women? Voting matters.

The citizens of Poland last week turned out an extremist party that imposed their extreme anti-abortion policies on a country that did not want those policies. Voting matters!

Every vote is important even in the local elections. Your vote could be the difference between a child being able to read one of the most important books ever written – “The Diary of A Young Girl by Anne Frank” – or not being able to read it because some blue nose controlling book access is offended by Anne Frank recognizing her sexual feelings as she grows into womanhood in a horrific setting.

Your vote counts.