We at The Spectrum cannot encourage you more to vote. We don’t have to remind you of some of the crazy events happening in our country at the moment, let alone our state. But we will.

Native Americans living on reservations in North Dakota have had to fight to meet the new voter ID laws in this state to vote. School shootings and mass shootings have become a normal part of American life. Education seems to be on the back burner, and the notion that student debt is worth the degree you worked for often feels like a lie. Also, the issue of voting on party lines versus doing what is right (which we promise can both be the same choice sometimes), showed up in the Brett Kavanaugh appointment. If we want to make a difference, if we want to care about our world, what do we do? We vote.

We have allowed “slacktivism” for far too long. We think sharing newspaper articles without reading more than the headline keeps us informed because we don’t want to take the time to read and educate ourselves. We repeat the same nonsense and only look for opinions that back up our own.

We don’t like this. You shouldn’t like this. This isn’t normal. The way we change all of these issues is simply to be educated and vote. So this Nov. 6, we here at The Spectrum, and the nation, are relying on you to vote.