November 4: A Day of Votes, Views and Voices

By: Jennifer Hatcher, Senior Vice President, Public and Government Affairs, Food Marketing Institute 

Election Day is next week, Tuesday, November 4, and your vote matters.  However you may choose to vote, it is important that you do vote.

Close elections appear to be the new normal, and there is no doubt that every vote counts.  This year, we have already seen several primary elections determined by only a handful of votes: Arizona’s first congressional district (407 votes), Wisconsin’s sixth congressional district (214 votes) and the Hawaii Senate race (1,769 votes).  House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost his primary to a previously unknown candidate by 7,193 votes.  During the 2012 elections, six U.S. House races were determined by less than one percentage point of the districts’ votes.

To help educate all representatives of our industry and remain engaged with the electoral process, FMI launched its nonpartisan Voting Resources page.  This resource allows anyone to find information on candidates, help locate polling places, find deadlines for absentee voting and provide updates on the latest political news.  On November 4, the voting resources page will have up-to-the-minute results for all federal races.  FMI compiled a list of each state’s voting poll closing times to ensure that everyone can schedule time to vote on Tuesday and track the election results nationwide as control of Congress is contested.

The November midterm elections will have a significant impact on our industry, setting the legislative agenda in the post-election lame duck session and throughout the 114^th Congress next year.  It will decide the next Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader.  The results of this election could dramatically change the way we do business.  We need to make sure our voice is heard on Election Day.