Hazel Voted, did you?

[zirconmermaid]

HazelVoted by zirconmermaid, on Flickr

[kenaiqueen]

I am a moderate/liberal-leaning woman living in a very conservative red state so my vote doesn't count for much. My political representatives rarely represent me or my wishes. However, I vote in every election and the reason I do this exercise in futility is because women were beaten, raped and killed to give me this right. I honor them by voting. I vote in the hope that this right will never be taken from me.

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

I voted to stay in and wait for a parcel (I'm in the UK )

But much less flippantly, I vote when we have our elections partly for the reasons Kenaiqueen gave, but also because if everyone who didn't bother voting because it wasn't worth it actually turned out and voted for who they believed in it would make more of a difference. It might only be small, but small differences can sometimes turn into big ones (the Green party, for example, has come on in leaps and bounds despite very limited press coverage. And I'll leave it there before I start frothing at the mouth and ranting incoherently )

[Trethowan]

I voted during the early elections. They didn't give me a sticker. Boo hiss.

[K2!]

I voted for ideas, but money usually wins.

[Kirahfaye]

I voted for ideas, but money usually wins.

This .....

Seriously, though, each vote is important. Even if you are in an area where your views are the minority. Both my husband and I didn't vote in the primaries because we weren't sure which candidate we wanted representing us or if it mattered (it was the FIRST time I intentionally did not vote). And according to the ridiciously low voter turn-out a lot of other people felt the same way. We all gave up our right to choose. The good of it was yesterday's voter turn-out was extremely high.

Only when people participate can change be made. I'm a conservative independant voter, but this is how important I feel voting is.

[richila]

Everyone in our family votes every election-we're Social Studies teachers, Showing that stamp on your voter's registration card makes you eligible to eat dinner at our house.

[Swan]

I voted! I have voted in every election since I was able to. I have an Election Day story to tell you...

Back in 1996 my eyes were steadily getting worse and worse and worse. I had a cataract that had been deemed "inoperable" and I was doing my very best to keep going, as my eyesight diminished. Still, I did not truly realize how bac my eyes had gotten until I went to vote.... and I could not see the ballot!

I stood in the voting booth and squinted, tried to turn it this way, that way... and still the print was too faint, to blurred... I went to the poll worker and said "Do you have large print or Braille ballots (I read Braille) and she said that they did not have them... I returned the unmarked ballot... went outside, sat down on the steps of the polling place, and WEPT!

That was the low point of my life! I felt as if I was no longer a citizen! I felt horrible. I finally got a sympathetic poll-worker to mark my ballot for me, but I went home crushed in spirit. Voting means that much to me.v For the next five years, I voted with sighted assistance. I got absentee ballots in the mail and, with my partner, would mark them and send them in... but I never truly FELT as if I was part of the elections...

Then, in 2002, I found a doctor who looked at my one good eye, the hypermature cataract and said "I know most surgeons in the US consider this kind of cataract impossible to safely remove... but I have worked in Guatemala and in many third world countries where people frequently go without eye care for decades... and I specialize in hard-to-remove cataracts... if the surgery fails, you will have no eyesight... but if it succeeds, you can get back most of what you lost.. Are you willing to try?"

Well heck YEAH!!! I signed a release (after all, I reasoned... at that point I had no eyesight left to lose!) and had the surgery... AND IT WORKED!!! The next election came and, with my partial eyesight restored... I walked into that sAME polling place and voted independently! I was so happy, I handed in my completed ballot with tears in my eyes. As luck would have it, the SAME poll-worker took my ballot! "Honey, there's no need to cry... I'll help you."

I told her through my tears "No, LOOK at it... I marked it myself! I VOTED!!" We cried together. Cried for happy! You never realize just how PRECIOUS a right voting IS until you almost lose that right. As nasty and cynical as I am many times, I still feel that fragile pride when I step into that booth and begin the process of selecting our leaders.

NO-ONE walks out of the polling place wearing the "I VOTED!" sticker with greater understanding than those who almost lose the privilege.

Swan

[kenaiqueen]

Beautiful story, Swan! I have just one good eye and it's in jeopardy right now so I feel deeply for you. *hugs!*

I will admit that I think the election went so badly, I am trying to convince the DH to move out of the US when he retires. He's not a citizen so it would be easier for us to immigrate. I'm tired of corn syrup in everything I eat too.

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

Swan - your story is beautiful and touching. I'm astounded they don't have large print or braille ballot papers, though. Although I have no idea if our polling stations do either - I'm fortunate enough to have my eyesight (and your story is a timely reminder not to take it for granted).