Election day is tomorrow, November 4. I urge Iowans to cast their ballots and exercise their civic responsibilities. Voting is a hard-earned privilege. Nationwide, women didn't have the right to vote until 1920, with the 19^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Eighteen-year olds first got the right to vote in 1971 during the Vietnam War. Having election day in November comes from America's agrarian heritage, making it possible for farmers and rural workers to travel to the polls. Having election day on the first Tuesday of the month gave people in rural America all day Monday to travel to the county seat to vote. Then and now, America's greatest strength is that its citizens, from every walk of life and every background, participate in our democracy, starting with voting. Soldiers have fought and died to preserve this freedom. We all have a patriotic duty to participate in representative government, by the people, and get out and vote on election day.

P.S. I voted early, last Tuesday, at the Butler County Courthouse in Allison.