July 6, 2016, is the last day to register to vote for the upcoming Missouri primary elections in August. October 12, 2016, is the last day to register before the general election in November.

As trial lawyers, the attorneys of Kennedy, Kennedy, Robbins & Yarbro, LC, are frequently at the courthouses around the Southeast Missouri. Our clients often believe that:

1. Missouri laws are unjust.
2. Missouri legal procedures are unfair.
3. Missouri elected officials abuse their authority.
4. Missouri’s legal and political system as a whole is skewed in favor of someone other than me.

There are many legal issues that are important to Missourians – taxes, religious liberties, tort reform, and gun rights, to name just a few. Yet, Missourians, and Americans as a whole, don’t take the time to vote. It is easier now to vote than it ever has been, yet we do so at an alarming low rate. In the 2014 general election, 35.23% of Missouri’s registered voters decided who was elected, what constitutional amendments passed and what bond issues passed.

The excuses for not voting are many:

1. I don’t believe that my vote matters.
2. I don’t like any of the candidates.
3. I don’t know who is running.
4. I am not registered to vote.
5. I have freedom of choice and I choose not to vote.

Excuses like these are poor and simply not true. Every vote counts. You can skip certain positions on the ballot if you don’t like either candidate. You can fire up the Google machine and take time to learn the candidates and their positions. You can register to vote.

Register to Vote

If you are not registered to vote, you can register now and still vote in the primary election in August and the general elections in November.

If you don’t exercise your right to vote, your voice will not be heard. Pastor Martin Niemöller, was a Protestant pastor in Germany who opposed Hitler and the Nazi regime. He is famous for stating that:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Niemöller believed well meaning German’s were complicit, through their silence, in the Nazi’s systematic purge of those who disagreed with them. Don’t complain about the direction (or lack there of) of our state and nation without exercising your right to vote. Register to vote today.

If you need legal assistance, please contact us or call Kennedy, Kennedy, Robbins & Yarbro, LC, at (573)686-2459.