Anymore, it seems, political opinions are formed before people hear a single word. Opinions are set in stone as soon as one side sets eyes on the other. What someone sees can affect what they hear and substance doesn't matter. Is that democracy?
WHAS 11 is looking to start conversations, give people no excuse but to listen before forming an opinion. Leading up to election day, you're going to hear "Voter Voices", our way of giving you a chance to describe what drives you to the polls.
Our mobile voting booth has traveled across Kentuckiana, collecting stories of those who will exercise their right to vote on November 6th.
You'll hear people from all walks of life and all corners of our area. At first, you won't see what a voter looks like, their identities hidden behind the voting booth curtain until they describe what motivates them to vote.
What you will hear are the reasons people like you, and not so much like you, are driven to do something many take for granted. What you won't hear is their political party or who they're voting for. Maybe what you hear will shatter a stereotype.
Maybe, when you hear the "Voter Voices" you'll hear yourself in the words of someone you might not expect to agree with. Maybe, just maybe, the stories will help you listen more closely to yourself.
Voter Voices: A sense of empowerment
This voter finds a sense of empowerment in casting her ballot on election day and feels that her one vote will make a difference one way or another.
Voter Voices: Because I Care
He votes because for many years people were denied this right and because issues affect him and the ones he loves. But, ultimately, he votes because he cares.
Voter Voices: It's better than just complaining
He feels that voting is “the American way”, and the only chance some have to change the things around them. This voter also heads to the polls because, “It’s better than just sitting back and complaining about it.”
Voter Voices: I want to raise future leaders
She’s a mother of two children who she hopes will become the future she believes in. Her vote is a lesson to her kids that you can make the world a better place.
Voter Voices: We are lucky to have this right
This voter heads to the polls to tell politicians how he feels about the job their doing and feels lucky to have the right to vote because in some countries elections are “rubber stamped."