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Election Day is finally here.

Each voter has the power to elect candidates whose platforms stand for the values they want to see in government, such as racial, civil and social justice. Today is the day to make your voice heard at the ballot box.

If you want your country to ensure that all citizens – regardless of race, gender identity or any number of characteristics or beliefs – can fully participate in democracy and have equal protection under the law, today is the day to make your voice heard.

If you want your country to protect inclusive public education for your children and to oppose book bans and inaccurate curricula, today you must vote. If you want your country to dedicate resources to eradicating poverty, hate and white supremacy, to enable every citizen to walk our streets without fear of being brutally attacked for their ethnic heritage or religion and to safeguard children of color from the school-to-prison pipeline, today is the day to make your voice heard.

We have much work yet to do, and the stakes are high. Conservative, white elected officeholders are fighting as hard as they can to preserve their power as they face . Twenty-four states since 2020 have added or strengthened voter suppression laws that disenfranchise untold numbers of Americans who are disproportionately Black and Brown.

The °Ä²Ê¿ª½±â€™s answer is to fight even harder, filing legal challenges to unconstitutional laws, forming partnerships with state and community organizations that maximize our impact, and in the past six months, implementing our The South’s Got Now | Decidimos get-out-the-vote campaign.

Ultimately, the power to make the change you want is in your hands. So, let’s cast our ballots for a country where our hopes and dreams become a shared reality.

Image at top: People wait in line to cast their ballots on the last day of early voting at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta on Nov. 1, 2024. (Credit: Elijah Nouvelage/AFP)