Richmond (VA) Dispatch, “The Day of Election,” May 22, 1861

The Day of Election.

We once more invoke the attention of our readers universally to the fact that to-morrow is the great day for deciding the question of Virginia’s independence. Let no man absent himself from the polls. If there is one man in the city of Richmond who still adheres to the old Union, and desires Virginia to link her destiny hereafter with that establishment, let him come to the polls, and freely and safely exercise his suffrage. An let every friend of Virginia independence see that he does his own duty. Let no man stay from the polls. – In ordinary times, men may neglect the exercise of the right of suffrage without public injury, but it is not so now. The exercise of that right is now a duty which no man can neglect, who desires the proud prerogative of a freeman.