Next Tuesday, get thee to your polling site and vote. Get up early and go before work, or leave work early. Go over the lunch hour. If your boss or co-workers give you grief, offer to drive them to their precincts so they can vote. If you need a note to explain your tardiness or absence, let me know, and I will write one for you. When you leave the polls and they give you the “I VOTED” sticker, wear it. Yes, you will look like a dork, but you will be a responsible dork.
Rearranging your daily schedule once every four years to elect a president may seem like a chore, but you can handle it. Afraid of long lines? Take a book. Don’t know where to go? Look it up. Don’t feel well? Suck it up. Really? You think that thousands of newly registered voters can make up for you taking a break this year? Think again.
If you have them, take your kids with you. Explain how the process works and why we do it. Explain why YOU are doing it. Admit that yes, there are problems with our election process and in some ways, it seems rather absurd, but that is no reason to slack off and keep your vote to yourself. If people stop using a system because they have no faith in it, the system will never get fixed.
My sons have accompanied me to elections ever since they were born. They are finally old enough to talk with me about how I view the different sides, what comforts me and what concerns me, and who I prefer. They ask questions, and I give answers. They know the Election Day drill – where they will stand and wait for me, quietly, respectfully. They will ask if they can put my ballot in the scanner, and I will say no, it is my vote. Then they will ask who I voted for, and I will tell them it is none of their business. When we get in the car, they will ask again and receive the same answer. Bottom line – they know the decision of who receives my vote is between me and the nifty scanning machine. They know that the beauty of the American vote is that it is mine to give and that one day, they will be able to cast their own.
At the ages of seven and ten, my children see both mystery and power in the act of voting, and they are anxious to do what hundreds of thousands of Americans can do but don’t. They have heard on the news and at school that THIS is an important election year, but they have always known that EVERY election is important. They know that voting is a right and a privilege and a responsibility.
You know it, too. Go vote.
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Long Way From Home by The Heavy
Re: You Know. Yes, You Do.
Great post. I agree. No matter who you vote for – vote.
In Texas they've had early voting. I voted last week. I'm so glad I did too. Even though I got griped at by the grumpy old man running the show – three times! – because I didn't have my voter registration card and they announced all over the place that you didn't need one as long as you had your driver's license. Still, undaunted, I stood my ground, exercised my right and casted my ballot.
If the last election proved anything it's that every vote counts. This is the embodiment of the American Spirit. We all have the right to vote and we should exercise it.
I voted. But I didn't get a sticker!!!!!!!! What's up with that?
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