OPINION: Does your vote count?

A further possible complication is that the Electoral College vote could be a tie. In that case, the newly elected Congress would convene on January 6th and choose for us, the House of Representatives electing a president and the Senate a vice president — and we could conceivably end up with a president from one party and a vice president from the other party. Hmmmm.

Vote-suppression scams in at least 10 states make it doubtful that all duly registered voters will actually get to vote. Millions may not. And in fact, and rather troublingly, our Constitution doesn’t describe voting as a right. It seems the founding fathers were mixed-up about who should vote, and didn’t know what to say about whether it was a “right” or not, so they said — nothing.

And on top of all of this, we have weather to worry about: epic flooding, high winds, downed trees, power outages, even snow —with fallout that could last for up to a week. So an autumn hurricane could be stamping yet another question-mark on this hotly contested election.

Meanwhile, hanging in the balance are (among other things) Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid — the mainstays of our social “safety net,” protecting the elderly and the indigent from homelessness and the loss of health and life. For this reason, as one broadcaster puts it, the 2012 election “is not about Obama – it’s about your mama!”

But of course it is about Obama. Under his leadership the Iraq war has ended; fair-pay legislation affecting 72 million women became law; student loans have been freed from interest rates that were making higher education an unattainable luxury; the American auto industry is now healthy; five million private-sector jobs have been created; we have survived the second-worst financial crisis in American history; and we’ve gained a health-care program (known in Massachusetts as “RomneyCare”) that will make health coverage available to 35 million uninsured citizens. Despite all of that and more, President Obama has been described by some as “the anti-Christ.” Go figure.

And after you’ve figured, go vote. It’s important. Early voting is available at the Commerce Recreation Building and at the Jackson County Administrative Building — but only until 5 p.m. this Friday. Or for an absentee ballot, call 706-367-6377 before that time. Or show up at the polls on Election Day. Let your voice be heard. It’s your idea of America that’s at stake. And whatever your vote, it counts.

Susan Harper is retired, lives in Commerce and volunteers with the Commerce Public Library and the Jackson County Literacy Program.