At some point in their lives, I brought each of my young sons with me when I voted. This was when we had polling booths in Oregon, before the advent of everyone voting by mail. One son, and I can't remember which one it was, told me when we were on our way home "That was boring, Mom."
My response was "Yes! And isn't it wonderful that it was boring!" He looked at me, confused, and I continued. "We drove five miles to our polling place and arrived here without any problems. In some countries, people would have had to walk half the day or more. No one stood outside the polling place to intimidate us. No one had guns. No one told me I had to vote a certain way or he would hurt or kill us or your Dad would lose his job. I had privacy when I voted and I put my ballot into a locked box. I know it will arrive at the county courthouse safely. The poll worker checked to make certain that I was eligible to vote and later someone will check my signature to make certain it was I who voted and that I only voted once. My vote is secret; I don't have to tell anyone how I voted. I was able to vote freely and easily and I know my vote will be counted. Voting is boring. And oh, we are so very, very lucky that it is."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
When Dustin's ballot arrived I had already voted. We had already discussed how we were going to vote and so I asked him if he wanted my notes on how I voted, and he said no and went into our bedroom and shut the door so he could vote in secret. I love that he values his vote so much and I think it's interesting that he wanted to replicate the feel of a polling booth. :D I agree with your post. So glad voting is boring!
Post a Comment