The Voting Experience
Council member Matzigkeit looks back on voting experience
Voting plays an invaluable role in our American political system. Whether it’s a vote for president or local boards and commissions, casting a ballot shapes the futures of cities, states, and the country.
With the 2020 general election coming up, this series will offer a look at the voting experiences for members of the Atlanta City Council.
Next in our series is District 8 Council member J.P. Matzigkeit.
“I think it’s important that people are involved in their city government and in what’s happening in their world,” Matzigkeit said. “Voting is really your way of showing that you care and are involved. It shows that we’re all in this together and that we have a shared destiny in the way we live together.”
He noted that his first time voting in a presidential election was in 1988, but he especially remembered his friend’s ability to vote in previous elections for the incumbent. The 1984 election resulted in then-President Ronald Reagan defeating former Vice President Walter Mondale of Minnesota.
“So, I turned 18 in 1985,” Matzigkeit said. “I don’t have a particularly memorable voting story, but I do remember in November of 1984 being disappointed that I couldn’t vote because I wasn’t old enough.”
