As time ran out for Minnesotans, and all Americans, to cast their votes in the 2020 election, one Minnetrista resident urged her neighbors to make careful, informed decisions on Election Day.
South Hennepin News spoke with an anonymous Minnetrista resident who is a Romanian immigrant and proud American citizen—and she thinks that voting, while important every year, is especially crucial this year.
"I do believe that this is the most consequential election in my lifetime," she said. "And in the history of this country."
As an American citizen for three and a half decades, the unnamed resident sees the U.S. as a stark contrast to her communist home country of Romania. She feels that the future of America will reach a tipping point after the results of Tuesday's election—and whether the scale tips in favor or against the wellbeing of the nation all depends on the voter.
"I escaped communism," she explained, "which was the end result of socialism. I understand people don’t believe this, but I have seen it. I grew up in it. And I understand where things come from and where they are headed. So I believe that this is a very important election."
In Minnetristra, Hennepin County and the state of Minnesota, lower-level elections are important, too. Minnetrista will be choosing a new mayor and two new council members-at-large, the county will see an array of nonpartisan commission names on the ballot, and Senate/Congress races on the state level.
Over 1.7 million Minnesotans voted early, according to statistics from the U.S. Election Project, with more coming to the polls on Tuesday. While getting to the polls is important, the Minnetrista woman said that knowing what you stand for as a voter is critical, too, and that voting to please someone or because of a candidate's personality rather than their policy views is just as bad as not voting.
"It's important to vote, yes," she said, "but I believe it's as important to be informed and not to cast an emotional vote, but to be informed about the consequences of voting for a particular candidate. If [voters] don't know by now, what they should vote for one way or the other, if you have no convictions, then just stay home. There's no reason for you to vote because you're just, you know, pulling lottery tickets."
All in all, the woman hopes her fellow Minnesotans, and fellow Americans, realize what is at stake.
"It's the difference between what I left behind and what I came here for," she said. "It's day and night. Every aspect of the society's makeup is at stake, and what this society and country promised an immigrant. All of those things for which one sacrifices are at stake, like freedom of speech and the Second Amendment. All of these are not what other countries offer. Especially not what a socialist or communist country offers. Those are just dictatorships."
The Romanian immigrant hopes to see America's freedom of speech, free enterprise and protection against government infringement upon private sectors continue.
"Those rights were promised to me and I swore to uphold as a citizen. I am now at a point where those rights are being taken away from me," she said. "Understand what is at stake, vote your conscience, and if you’re unsure, stay home. America as we know it as at stake. The America that is founded with the Declaration of Independence."
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