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Monday, 23 October 06 ::
VOTE.
I wasn't sure if I would be able to VOTE in this year's Oregon election, because of a screw up, but lo and behold, sitting in my mailbox today was my ballot.
Seriously, this voting thing is important. Since I've gotten on the whole voting bandwagon, since 2000 and the No on 9 campaign, and then 4 years later during the primary season and being able to vote for Andrea Ortiz and Kitty Piercy, and then later - voting for John Kerry, and most recently the Oregon democratic primary and being able to vote for Pete Sorenson for democratic candidate for governor, this whole voting thing has actually gotten exciting for me. I mean, since running phonebanks, canvasses, and actual campaigns has really hit home for me how much my vote counts. The work each campaign does to get my vote, the work I did to get YOUR individual vote shows me how crucial this is.
I'm registered to vote absentee in Oregon. That really doesn't change the procedure at all, except that I have to put a stamp on my ballot and mail it in early enough to know it'll get from Logan to Eugene by November 7. It makes me feel like I still get a say, it helps me to feel more connected to Oregon. I've been looking forward to today for awhile. This whole PhD thing is hard, and I don't know how to do it, but voting.. well, elections are one thing I do know how to do (for the most part). It's nice to be able to go to something familiar in the middle of all this unknown.
I'm not going to cast my ballot today - the day I've gotten my ballot - like I usually do. I'll wait till later, because there is someone that I know here at USU who is interested in the mail-in voting piece. I'll show her my ballot first and then cast my most very important vote.
On Friday I got a chance to converse with 5 librarians from here in Utah. One of those librarians said that libraries are the place where democracy sits. Actually, libraries help us move those democracies forward, but the true seat of our democracy is sitting here next to my computer as I type this and whether I choose to exercise the power that sits in that ballot. If I don't, if you don't, if we don't exercise the power we have with our ballots democracy doesn't exist.
I don't care who you vote for or what you vote for -- really. Okay, thats a lie, I do care, somewhat, but what I care more about, more than who gets elected and what initiatives get passed, is that it was done, and that we all chose to exercise the power in our ballots. We have to, we have to VOTE, because really, when it comes down to it, money doesn't matter, no money in elections doesn't matter. I know, surprising, because a campaign can spend all the money in the world and not get the VOTE that was expected, because people do have free agency. Whenever we cast our ballots we are choosing to express our free agency, we are choosing to take advantage of the power in our ballots.
Elected officials know how powerful each and every single vote is. I know how powerful each and every single vote is. Now, you believe it, and go exercise it. I know I can't wait to exercise mine, it'll be a high point of my week.
posted by brooke at October 23, 2006 10:11 AM
