Vote like your rights depend on it

For a nonpresidential election, the nationwide balloting that draws to a close Tuesday night is likely to be of big consequence to Long Island, New York State and the United States.

What ties the many races together are the congressional midterms. For New York voters, that means House races. The Senate hangs in the balance but the open seats aren't here.

We are at a point where the local melds with the global. Two years into a Republican White House, anxious controversies are raging over war in the Mideast, the conduct of immigration raids, inflation, spiking fuel prices and the cost of living for most of us.

If the congressional majorities change from GOP to Democratic, they will review, question and investigate the administration, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's internally chaotic rule at the Pentagon. If not, Congress will stay the course for President Donald Trump, who has urged voters to pretend he is on the ballot.

The conduct of the election itself has become an important election issue.

The administration continues trying to intervene in the process, under the aegis of "election integrity," over which the Constitution clearly gives authority to individual states, which seem to do the job as well as can be expected.

Late in the run-up to the election, however, Trump's compliant Department of Justice issued subpoenas to California officials. The feds are demanding information about noncitizen voting, which after many years remains a canard until proved real.

Fortunately this state's system isn't under the same direct threat. But the fear of penalties for election officials who do not abridge the public's right to vote is palpable — if only due to DOJ threats and the famous MAGA attempt to nullify the 2020 presidential election.

In September, after all, Trump told attendees at a midterm convention that "we want honesty in our elections," then led them in a pledge to "cheat like hell." Nobody has made a convincing case he was entirely joking.

Meanwhile the broad issue of government corruption has become a major voter concern, according to separate polls by CNBC, Fox News and Reuters/Ipsos. The Reuters/Ipsos poll found voters divided when asked which party is better on corruption. Thirty-one percent said Democrats, 26% Republicans. Thirty percent said they did not know.

A prime scandal cited by the GOP involves fraud and misuse of state-administered social service and COVID-19 relief funds in Minnesota. Relevant prosecutions began during the Biden administration but the situation blossomed under Democratic state leadership.

On the other side of the divide, suspicions and scrutiny have arisen involving Trump family investments and dealings domestically and overseas including cryptocurrency and prediction market transactions. The president's personal wealth and asset values are reportedly up by billions of dollars since his return to the White House last year.

Then there is the granular local level to consider. For better or worse, local, state and national elections appear on the same even-year ballot for the first time in New York. Analysts will be studying results to see if voters are choosing to participate in all contests or just some — and whether increased turnout changed the dynamics.

Town, village, neighborhood and county politics can be the most intense and the most of interest to people. Sure, there are cosmic policies at stake — income disparities, climate change, how to insure everyone's healthcare — but also who's best to fix roads, or balance the books, or decide on taxes and zoning.

One point of fascination after the tally will be trends in the youth vote. According to a new national poll from the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School, Americans ages 18-29 are under financial pressure and deeply concerned about the nation's future. Likely voters in this group favor Democrats 63%-26%, the survey says, with 10% undecided. Will they use the ballot to direct their future?

Even technology is on the ballot, kind of. Skepticism over the construction of big data centers in some communities invites what ought to be a healthy discussion on where AI is going, where it should go, and its future impact on employment. The one-year state moratorium on their approval was a notable topic in Newsday Opinion's interviews with candidates.

Ideally, voting at all levels of government should be about choosing people the public thinks can be trusted to account for their official actions. We the people do the hiring. The choices can be difficult to feel confident about, but it's up to us collectively to make them. Even the most honest office seekers need to know the people are watching out for their own rights and liberties.

Whether you're angry, or appreciative, or driven by selfless ideology or self-interest, voting thoughtfully is the only way to either reform or preserve American institutions.

Let's rise to the moment and get it done.