Election 2006 - Did You Vote?
Growing up I never learned the importance of voting. My parents were registered “independents” but I don’t know if they ever actually registered to vote or if they wanted to lay claim to being open-minded and independent thinking. One thing I’m fairly certain of, though, is that neither one of them ever voted.
After every election they would poo-pah about the results. As an adult I had no tolerance for their complaints though. If they didn’t vote, I said, they had no right to complain about the outcome. It didn’t take many election days before we no longer talked about election results.
Today I went to vote. I saw a woman with her young son. I saw him clutching her leg as she stood behind the voting booth curtain. When they stepped out, the boy started running. Three steps forward and down he went.
His mom helped him regain his feet and they headed for the ballot box. I watched as her hands helped him feed her ballot into the counting machine. So sweet.
It brought back memories of when my children were small. I’d bring both of them with me to the voting booth. I remember one year my daughter wanted to make the mark on my ballot.
I was tempted to let her. But then I realized that it was my vote. It was up to me to mark it. I explained to her as best I could that voting is too important and too special to let someone else do it for you. I don’t know if she understood but she accepted it.
Today she went to vote for the first time.
This is so exciting to me. Scary, too.
You see my daughter has different opinions and different ideals than I do. I don’t know how she’s going to vote, but chances are good her vote will cancel out my vote.
Hmmm…
But you know what? I believe in the process. I trust that together, the people in our communities can make the best decisions for all of us. I believe that in the privacy of the voting booth each of us can express our true opinions.
Today you have an opportunity to make changes in your government.
Election Day is a special day to decide on community issues and government leadership.
But every day you have the opportunity to cast your ballot for what you want in life. Your vote counts… but only if you cast it.
Please vote today and everyday!
November 7th, 2006 at 6:18 pm
I just got back from voting myself. I was a little bit difficult for the people at City Hall to deal with because I hadn’t registered ahead of time and didn’t really have a proof of address. They were very polite and helpful… kudus to them for staying that way despite what must be a long day for them.