Do better. Be better: Midterm Elections
Ansley Brock, Staff Writer
Do better, be better. That’s why people vote.
The battle for Congress is underway and it’s going to be a close one. Voters will make their way to the polls on Nov. 6, to determine who will be voted into Congress. Which means voters will be deciding who will make the laws in the upcoming years.
Currently, Republicans hold control in both chambers of Congress: the House of Representatives and the Senate. All 435 seats in the House are being voted on.
In order for the Democrats to take control in the House of Representatives, they must attain 218 seats. Meaning at least 35 seats must be taken by the Democrats from the Republicans. In the Senate only 35 out of 100 seats in total are being voted on.
How do voters decide who is worthy of getting their vote? Well, a lot happened this past week that could affect the elections. Candidates had a busy week while making their final push for the elections.
The week started off with a rally in Georgia that focused on the concern of absentee ballots being rejected. Signatures that do not match the ones on file, missing addresses and incorrect birth years, are among the reasons for certain ballots being tossed out.
Statewide more than 1,200 ballots have been tossed, but in one county alone, Gwinnett County, there have been 465 ballots. That accounts for 38 percent of the entire statewide rejection percentage.
Along with absentee ballots being tossed out, there is talk about voter suppression, claiming that the two go hand-in-hand. Some say it is no coincidence this is occurring along with the 50,000 voting applications that were rejected as well, most of them for black voters. Georgia does have one of the most strict voting requirement laws which requires personal information to exactly match driver’s license or Social Security records.
Republicans stated these laws have been made to prevent voter fraud, but others have been stating that it harms voters of color, students and people with lower income. Many Democrats are accusing Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who is also running for governor, of suppressing the black voters of GA. Kemp and his team think the exact opposite. Kemp’s spokeswoman Candice Broce said, “We will do our part to keep elections secure, accessible, and fair in Georgia.”
Other rallies happened across the country as well. With big names getting out there for their choice of candidate. Joe Biden and Eric Trump both paid a visit to Wisconsin on Tuesday Oct. 30. Former Vice President Biden stopped in Madison and Milwaukee and Former President Obama campaigned at North Division High School Friday, Oct. 26.
Eric Trump stopped in Sheboygan, Kroenwetter and Wisconsin Rapids. These stops occurring less than a week after President Trump rallied in Mosinee. The same week Eric Trump was in Wisconsin, President Trump was in Florida.
While in Florida, President Trump campaigned alongside Vice President Mike Pence, former Florida State University football coach Bobby Bowden, gubernatorial candidate Rob DeSantis and U.S. Senate candidate Governor Rick Scott. All campaigning for Republican candidates in Pensacola, Estero, Palm Beach and Mar-a-largo. He then made his way up to Tennessee to speak at rallies as well.
The October jobs report was released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics just in time for the midterm elections as well. According to the jobs report the US added 250,000 jobs in October; unemployment at 3.7 percent. Jobs were gained in healthcare, manufacturing, construction, transportation and warehousing.
The employment-to-population ratio increased to 60.6 percent, the highest in ten years since December 2008. The 3.7 percent unemployment is the lowest since December 1969.
The wage gain percent gain was at the highest since 2009: 3.1 percent. The average hourly earnings rose by five cents an hour for the month, equaling out to 83 cents year over year.
Jim Baird, partner and chief investment officer for Plante Moran Financial Advisors, told CNBC this, “This report adds yet another data point to a narrative that has been positive for the labor market this year. Little seems to stand in the way of the economy finishing 2018 out on solid footing.”
