A Message from Alan Hays

Lake County's Supervisor of Elections

As we bid Thanksgiving goodbye, for many of us, our focus turns to Christmas; food, family events, and gifts!!

The holiday season always brings many emotions to the forefront of our minds and I'd like us to reflect for a moment on the gifts and blessings that are ours as Americans. How did we come to be so abundantly blessed?

I and many other Americans count it a true blessing to have been born in this great country. Across the globe there our countless others that yearn to come here and become American citizens.

Our forefathers gifted us with a tremendous system of government through our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution. Those two documents, taken together, serve as the foundation of our Republic. The Declaration states each of us are created equal, endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The founders created the government to protect those rights so that no one can take them away. The government did NOT give those rights to us, they came from our Creator, therefore no one should be taking them from us.

Here we are, 247 years after the Declaration of Independence, still enjoying the privilege of voting to choose our government leaders. May we NEVER forget the sacrifices those founders made to insure our liberty!! Let's devote ourselves to become informed about the candidates and issues as a way to demonstrate our appreciation for the gifts the founding fathers gave us.

From our SOE team to you and your family, may you have a wonderful holiday season including a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year