“American people is this: democracy. The right to be heard. To have your vote counted. To choose the leaders of this nation. To govern ourselves,“ Mr. Biden will say.
“In America, politicians don’t take power-the people grant it to them. The flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago. And we now know that nothing-not even a pandemic-or an abuse of power- can extinguish that flame.” – Joe Biden, President-Elect
‘We, the people’ is the beginning statement of the Preamble to the United States Constitution. As I eagerly watched the election returns on Nov. 3, 2020, this is one of the first thoughts that came to my mind. Yet it took several days for the votes to be counted. The people had their right to vote and be counted in the Nov. 3rd election for president of these United States. The election is a process that takes into account each state and each state will conduct the election in a decent and fair order. Sometimes, the results of an election process do not yield the results some people want, but it is the democracy that embodies our nation.
All of us have the right to choose our candidates and democracy encourages us to respect the will of the people.
President-elect Joe Biden stood strong for democracy to prevail for the people. Right now, so many law makers want to abolish the Electoral College for various reasons. What is the point of the Electoral College? Why is it that we don’t elect the president on the popular vote? In reviewing the purpose of the Electoral College, I offer this explanation. The Electoral College was created by the framers of the U.S. Constitution as an alternative to electing the president by the popular vote or by congress. There are currently 538 electors in the Electoral College; 270 votes are needed to win the presidential election. On December 14, 2020, the Electoral College casted their vote for Joe Biden to become the 46th President of the United States of America.
Now, we are ready to embark on a new journey in the mist of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Questions are being asked. Will the president-elect shut down the economy? How will the vaccine be administered to the everyday people like you and I? Is it possible that unity and healing can be embraced in our county again? We must wait patiently for the answers to all of the questions. This new normal requires us to be more tolerant of each other in our homes and communities.
We are looking forward to an election in Ferguson come April 6, 2021. What do you want from the candidates? Do you want the candidates to take power, or do you want to grant power to them upon the election? The choice is yours because we live in a democracy. Are we going to respect the will of the people?
Thank you,
Mayor Ella Jones