Regardless of your party affiliation, you should vote on Tuesday. In the not too distant past, it was a struggle for people to vote in our own country. A mere 9 years before I was born, the Voting Rights Act was passed. It appalls me to think of the violence people met with just by exercising their constitutional rights. I am thankful that such a fear is not in my brain. No one is going to beat me to a pulp or set my car on fire just because I dared to cast a ballot.
I am thankful my ancestors fought for and won my right to vote 92 years ago. Each time I go to the polls, I think of the women in my family who weren’t allowed to cast their votes simply because they were born without a Y Chromosome.
Too many people taking voting for granted. Sure it’s kind of a pain and yes, I do complain about it, but I will always do it. Granted, I haven’t been the perfect voter. One year I didn’t vote because my dad was sick and I just couldn’t find the time to get to the polls. One year I didn’t vote in that stupid recall election for the governor because well, I thought it was stupid. Schwarzenegger really proved to be better than Davis, huh? I just couldn’t support such a waste of tax payer money. Then again, I could have voted for Gary Coleman as a form a protest. Heck, he might have been more effective.
Yes, I know I have said that dumb people shouldn’t vote so my vote counts more, but the point I’m trying to make is that whether or not you think your vote counts, you should go to the polls and cast a vote as a way of honoring those who came before you, who didn’t have the right or who lived in fear of exercising that right.
It goes beyond patriotism. Being able to vote without fear is what makes our country great. It sets an example for the rest of the world. It gives people hope that while it might not be a perfect system, at least we are trying to go down the right path. We are trying to grow and be better as a nation, a people.