What can I do about the coming election? Will it be worthwhile for me to vote? During the last nationwide campaign, one before that and the preceding one as well, I felt my vote doesn’t really count. Why? Because I don’t live anywhere our political parties define as a “swing” constituency. Media focuses on races in Ohio, Florida, or Pennsylvania. OK; voting patterns there may be inconsistent and unpredictable. But what about the rest of us?

I understand a swing district as one whose loyalty to a party is not guaranteed. Thus, attention and funds are directed there to “swing” undecided votes. Duly highlighted by all the networks and even our local media, we’re informed that a viable and genuine race is underway—over there. Our election system is a fair contest and our democracy works—somewhere.

As for the majority of political races in the nation? One concludes there’s no real contest; results are taken for granted whether by gerrymandered arrangements or by discriminatory policies which thwart registration. Then, there are citizens, a lot of them, who simply don’t vote. The status quo is undisturbed.

Maybe designating one neighborhood politically more vital than another explains low voter turnout across the USA, why citizens feel that casting their ballot is pointless. We feel excluded.

Defining some races as “in the bag” can be perilous, as demonstrated by Clinton’s 2016 campaign after it ignored Michigan and Wisconsin. In contrast, Republicans targeted those states and swung voters to their side.

Attribution of districts as “swing” or “solid” is more than a misguided strategy; it may also contribute to the despondency and disinterest among voters.

When I lived in New York City, any Democrat on the ballot was viewed as a shoo-in. My left-leaning associates and I never became excited about an election (except perhaps for a mayoral race). Now I understand how Republicans may have felt.

After moving into a less Democratic constituency upstate, I’m the one feeling disempowered today.

Here in New York’s Congressional District 19, represented by John Faso, a vigorous pre-primary campaign is underway. Seven candidates want to represent Democrats to challenge Faso in November. Thus far, local press seems non-committal, but articles elsewhere are highlighting CD 19’s Democratic contestants, generating a rumor that this congressional seat will be hotly contested. (True or not, the rumor is beguiling.) My very own neighborhood could become a swing district!

Six weeks remain before June 26th’s Democratic primary.

But the mere suggestion of our significance can have a positive effect. Forget about CNN and Fox reporters arriving in our farms and villages to interview us. If a contest appears evenhanded, our interest grows, and maybe, maybe, we voters can feel we really count. 

So, why wait for outside rumors about the value of our vote? Why wait for a tarnished Democratic Party, which blundered in 2016 pursuing so-called minority votes and urban, “educated” citizens to the exclusion of others?

Across the nation, we’ve seen some upsets as seats became vacant; we have new voices emerging to contest party primaries. The message is: every seat, every election, counts.

Whatever the source of these rumors, I say: grab hold, chase after whomever candidate represents some principle—however personal or vague—that you identify with. Candidates are women and men driven by the ideals of public service, of change, and by the energy of their fellow citizens. Know them; push them; challenge them. And advise them. Because these newcomers often don’t know basic facts about us and how to address our local issues. Then lobby neighbors thought to be on the other side. Try it.   

[Barbara Aziz is a resident of Cooks Falls/Roscoe, NY.]