What is Citizenship?
According to Merriam-Webster, citizenship is “membership in a community.” In addition, it’s “a legal status and relation between an individual and a state that entails specific legal rights and duties” (GlobalCIT, 2024). Many individuals interchange citizenship and nationality. The difference is the legal rights and duties ties to Citizenship such as voting. In the United States, one of the legal rights and duties of United States Citizens is the right to vote, collecting unemployment, serving on a jury, following laws, holding government offices and paying taxes to federal, state and local governments. There are many individuals who identify as naturalized citizens in the United States. This is when eligible immigrants who have been green card holders (permanent residents) for several years acquire citizenship status. Typically, individuals meet specific legal requirements such as residency, a biometrics appointment, interview and passing a citizenship exam.
Voting
How is citizenship connected to voting? The right to vote is often perceived as one of the most prominent responsibilities of being a citizen in the United States and is reserved for legal adults (18+) who meet eligibility requirements. We are approaching an important time of the year, a general election for the presidency. This occurs every four years. Voting occurs multiples times throughout the year depending on where one resides. People often vote in local and state elections for different elected officials and referendums. If you are able and eligible to vote in the state of Wisconsin, check out: myvote.wi.gov. You can see where you are able to vote, what is on your ballot and how to register.
Reflection Questions
- What is your first memory about citizenship?
- What is your first memory about voting?
- Who or where did you learn information about citizenship and voting?
- When was the last time you reflected on your values? How are you values connected to issues and candidates?
- How to Find, Define and Use Your Values from Harvard Business Review
BadgersVote
If you are eligible and interested in voting with your school address in Madison or elsewhere, learn more from BadgersVote:
On-campus early voting locations open weekdays from Oct. 22 – Nov. 1
- Memorial Union: 11 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
- Union South: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
- Health Sciences Learning Center: 11 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
On-campus early voting location open Oct. 24 and 31
- Eagle Heights Community Center: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Early voting without voter registration
If you’re already registered, you can still vote early from Nov. 2 – 3 at one of many off-campus locations.
Election Day
- Election Day polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.
- If you vote on Election Day, you must cast your ballot at your assigned polling place.
Upcoming Holidays and Observances
November
- National Native American Heritage Month: which celebrates the history and contributions of Native Americans.
- National Adoption Month: adoptees, birth families, adoptive families and adoption professionals reflect on, educate and celebrate adoption practices.
October 29 – November 4
- 10/31/2024 – All Hallows’ Eve (Halloween): a celebration observed in several countries on the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows’ Day. It begins the three-day observance of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed.
- 10/31/2024 – Reformation Day: a Protestant Christian religious holiday celebrated alongside All Hallows’ Eve (Halloween) during the triduum of Allhallowtide in remembrance of the onset of the Reformation.
- 10/31/2024 – Bandi-Chhor Diwas (Sikh): a commemorative occasion having no fixed date which occurs in October or November and celebrates the release of the Sixth Guru Har Gobind Sahib from imprisonment and coincides with Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.
- 10/31/2024 – 11/1/2024 – (sundown to sundown) Samhain (Pagan): a Gaelic, Pagan, and Wiccan festival marking the end of the harvest season and a celebration of the dead and ancestors.
- 11/1/2024 – Diwali (Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and some Buddhists): also known as Divali or Deepavali, is a five-day festival of lights among Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists that celebrates new beginnings and the triumph of good over evil and lightness over darkness.
- 11/1/2024 – All Saints’ Day (Christian): a Christian holiday commemorating all known and unknown Christian saints. In Eastern Orthodox Christianity, the day is observed on the first Sunday after Pentecost.