Professor of Religious Studies Heidi Ravven co-authored an essay titled Celebrate voting: A different approach to securing a democratic American future in the June 20 issue of The Hill with Marc Gropin, a professor at George Mason University. Emphasizing the importance of voting, the authors write, “Americans need to do more to honor and celebrate voting. When we vote we come together as a community of equals, feeling and enacting our deepest connections to each other and to a common future.”
To that end, they propose, “instituting several voting holidays and celebrations to strengthen our commitment, including a National Voting Day Holiday with public gatherings and celebrations as well as ceremonies throughout the year.” Throughout the essay, the writers focus on the unity of community engendered via the act of voting. “Now is the time for us to use our creative skills across all of our divides to secure an American future in which voting is not a memory but a regular celebration and feature of our common identity.”
