When Will You Vote?
Posted by Lisa Hendey in News on Friday, October 31, 2008 7:00 PM
My mother called the other day to share with me that she had just come from voting early in her home state of Mississippi, where folks over 65 are permitted to vote early for any reason. Her call reminded me of a local columnist here in Fresno who wrote that he, too, had exercised his right to vote early because he was suffering from “Voter Fatigue” and wanted to mentally tune out the election madness.
“I even left with the same “I Voted” sticker you get on Election Day at the precincts. The experience was uplifting and angst-ending” he wrote.
Call me crazy, but I would never vote early unless I was physically incapable of getting to my local polling precinct on election day. I love exercising my right to vote on election day and have rarely knowingly missed voting on an election day.
There’s something special about taking the weekend prior to truly study and make notes on my sample ballot and making a special occasion of voting. For years, I’ve taken my children with me to vote in big elections. Recently, I have to warn them not to argue with me when we receive the ballot and it’s time to actually vote, since they too have studied the candidates and issues.
Driving in the car this week, Adam and I came to the realization that in the next presidential election, both of my sons will be old enough to vote. Eric will be eighteen next year, and so he’ll have a few local elections under his belt by that time, but Adam will be a newly minted voter, turning 18 in September of 2012.
I hope that when their time comes, my sons will have learned a few of the lessons I’ve tried to teach them along the way - most importantly that they should cherish and take very seriously their right to vote. When I see my teenage sons and their friends informing themselves so thoroughly about this election (even though they cannot vote), it disappoints me that there are still people who do not treat the election with any seriousness at all. Some may even not vote because they forget or think the election is a foregone conclusion and their vote does not matter.
I have no problem with others voting early and am actually glad that so many people have taken the issues and candidates before us this year so seriously that early voting is taking place at a record place. But for me, I love my election day ritual and am looking forward to next Tuesday with great anticipation.
How about you - are you voting early this year? Will you take your children with you to vote? I’d love to hear how your input on what works best for your family!
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