I am always amazed by the people who don't get excited about voting and election day. I love this! I think it is one of the greatest privileges we have as Americans. Don't get me wrong. I understand how the electoral process works and that it may take some of the joy out of it for many. But I still consider it our most powerful weapon when trying to get the attention of our elected officials.
Of the people in my Facebook friends list who have spent the last several years trying to bully people to think as they do, I wonder how many have already voted or will vote today. I hope all of them do. If their chosen candidate is the victor, I suppose it will give them bragging rights and if their candidate loses, perhaps it will give them closure. Although, I suppose it could just make them even more bitter and negative.
I enjoy the sense of community that I get when I go to vote. Seeing all of the little old people working at the voting place is nice. And listening to neighbors run into one another and discuss things in the neighborhood is also cool. It sort of makes me feel like this world isn't as big as I think most of the time. I live in a heavily populated part of the Metroplex, I guess all of the Metroplex is heavily populated. But I'm just going to say, this ain't Roanoke. But when I went to vote, I heard several conversations about past and upcoming block parties and issues with neighbors dogs and various other topics that implied that these were neighbors gathering to let their voices be heard. Kind of nice! Of course, I saw no one that I knew.... you know because I am anti social. But that's beside the point.
I voted a couple of weeks ago. It is the first time that I ever voted early. I did it because during the last presidential election, I stood in line for more than 2 hours to vote and so I wanted to avoid that. This year it may have taken me a total of 20 minutes to vote going two weeks prior to the election in the middle of a work day. I was happy that I didn't have to stand in line for a long time. But I sort of missed the excitement of voting on election day. At my polling place, there are always candidates standing at the edge of the parking lot where they are allowed to stand trying to get a few last minute votes which also means that there are always news vans and reporters standing around waiting to interview people and trying to get footage of the candidates talking to voters. It's sort of cool. It lends to the whole election day atmosphere.
I think the biggest disappointment of voting early is that I don't get to wear one of those "I Voted!" stickers around all day. I love wearing one of those stickers around. It's like you are wearing a sticker around that says "I'm an AMERICAN!" or "I'm Doing My Part!" I missed this part of the process so much that I just went and found myself a sticker on line. So, I'll share it with you....
If you are so inclined, feel free to print this out and cut the "I Voted" sticker out and pin it to your chest. I found this when I googled "I Voted stickers" and discovered that I am apparently not the only one who feels as I do about voting early and not getting a sticker as a result. If I could have gotten a sticker when I voted, I would have been wearing it around for the last two weeks.... By now, it would be all tattered and have scotch tape on the back trying to hold it to my clothes. But I'd still be wearing it around. My friends would come up to me and be like "You're not going to be able to sit with us if you don't take that thing off...." and so I would have to carefully remove it and wrap it in a tissue placing it in my purse when I went out to eat with friends. But I'd hang on to it. You can't take these things for granted.
Whether my candidate wins or loses, it is still a privilege that many men have fought and died for and I intend to honor that by voting every time I am given the opportunity. I saw a story on the news last week about a dying man whose daughter brought his ballot to him so that he could vote early prior to dying so that he wouldn't miss out on having his voice heard. He has already died and his vote still hasn't been counted. I think that is pretty amazing. I am sure you all know which way I lean, but I am not here to try to sway your vote today or to attempt to bully you into my way of thinking.... you know since that's how I roll.... Ha! I just wanted to offer you an "I Voted" sticker and encourage you to make your voice heard if you have not already done so.
Have a great day and Happy Election Day!!!!!
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