Some election years I carefully map out who I'm voting for and carefully research the issues long before the ballot is due. Other elections I rip open my ballot at 6:40 am on election day, shriek at how many things are are to vote for and start flipping frantically through the voters guide.My first election was in 1992. I had turned 18 only a week or so before. I was able to register, even though my birthday was past the deadline, because I would be 18 by the time the election happened. I put off registering for a long time, mostly because I was afraid of voting. At that time, I thought I would have to carefully research each and every candidate or issue and come to firm conclusions so I could defend my choices when people asked my reasoning. It seemed like a really big deal.
Voting is a big deal. But it's not quite the big deal I thought at 18. Some years, I come close to approximating how I thought voting would be. Other years, I make some decisions by moving the pencil back and forth between two candidates and then going with the one who didn't push poll me. I follow politics in general, which I think is important for spur-of-the-moment voting, but this time I wasn't super nuanced in my reasoning. I felt a bit frantic all day, but it felt very good to drop my ballot in the box.
I did a more spur of the moment sort of vote. I admit that I vote pretty much along party lines. In fact, I have rarely ever voted otherwise. It felt like a tough election this time. I did get out and vote.
ReplyDeleteI am still feeling remorseful that I didn't call my friends at Metro in time to get their opinions on the Metro President candidates. I had to go with my best memory of skimmed articles, and some newspaper endorsements, which always makes me feel I am shirking my job as part of the informed electorate.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I was impressed when a woman called the library and asked me about 15 nuanced questions about the Future Library District measure, including some things I hadn't even thought of. As a fellow citizen I thanked her for taking the time to vote thoughtfully.