HOW TO VOTE…
…because Vote You Must.
I am not here telling anyone WHO to vote for. But in case there’s anyone else out there like me, who lived under a rock for 99.9% of her life, saying “this doesn’t affect me,” here’s HOW to vote. And why.
I never used to think who the President was made any difference to me and my life. I was so far down the trickle-down rabbit hole none of that stuff happening “up there” seemed relevant to me…or…by the time something might have worked its way into my sphere of self-absorption, they were out of office and a new one came in to start all new things that had nothing to do with me.
I feel like I’ve never been in “the groups that mattered.” I’m neither below the poverty line or in the 1% of richie-riches. I didn’t make enough money to not be struggling but I made too much money to qualify for any support or help. I’m not a minority or a white American male. I was always (well, til now, ha ha) too young to worry about whether or not Social Security would still be around when I retired. Plus, I thought I would never be able TO retire. I still don’t, not 100%. I was just in that middle-ish grey area, mainly focused on how to keep going week after week. Not paying attention to All That Other Stuff. Because I needed to take care of ME.
So I don’t know if the change is that I’m older…or due to social media this stuff is All Around Me All the Time, impossible to ignore…or if it’s that because I finally have some breathing room, financially speaking, I am able to start noticing that other people, other countries, are struggling. I have space in my mind now for issues. When for so many years I only had space for “how am I going to pay the rent.”
And now that I am learning about the issues (some might say “too little, too late,” but I say “better late than never”), I am caring about the issues. And the issues became my “in.” Another reason I never used to vote was that I felt I didn’t know enough about what was going on, who stood for what…and I felt an ignorant vote was the same as no vote at all.
So one day an embarrassingly few number of years ago, I googled as a joke, “who should I vote for.” And lo and behold, that is NOT a joke, because there are some great sites that are really helpful. They lay out all the issues as multiple choice questions and you select on what side of them you stand and on a scale of 1-5 (or 10?) how important that particular issue is to you. You answer all the questions and then it says which candidate you match best with! This was a magical discovery to me. You can also click on any of the issues as you go along for more information. For MANY of them, I was like HUH? I had no opinion cuz I didn’t even know what the heck they were talking about (welcome to the vast majority of my life).
So while you might think you want to vote for Mr/Ms _____, once you take the test, you might see that choice really doesn’t make as much sense for you as you thought it did…or as it once did.
I think that, like religion, some people just “accept” one political stance/party or another at a certain point in their lives, and they never really question it again, they just hold onto it, even though crucial elements might have changed. I also think that sometimes people only consider one issue when deciding who to vote for – when in reality there are So Many Issues.
So, even if you think you’re not knowledgeable enough on the issues to make an informed choice, there’s still a way to learn who to vote for. Give this site a try: I Side With.
If you’re concerned about voting in person at a public polling place due to COVID, you can vote by mail. Here is the state-by-state information on obtaining a mail-in ballot. Note: In many states, you no longer need a “reason.” So don’t think that just because you’re not sick or out of the country, that you can’t vote by absentee ballot. That link will tell you how to proceed based on your home state.
If you don’t think, or are not sure if, you have an absentee ballot coming to you automatically, select your state here and it will tell you how to get one. Or you can contact your county’s board of elections to request it.
The point here is, VOTE. One way or another. It may seem early to be talking about this, but it’s not. I mailed my request for an absentee ballot for the spring primary out before the deadline and I STILL didn’t get the actual ballot back in time to use it and I had to go my polling site. Which wasn’t a problem where I am, but I know other areas have real challenges with long waits, early closures, etc. Don’t take that chance. Plus, who knows what COVID will look like in November.
Who the heck am I to be offering advice on voting? I’m just sharing what I have learned, thinking someone else may be in the same situation that I was until just recently.
Every vote DOES count.
julia
Yes! Excellent! A working democracy needs people engaged. It is not a spectator sport. And voting is fun. I feel such a part of my community and my country and I feel very patriotic when I vote. So many people fought and died so I could vote and I remember that every election. Thank you for bringing up this topic Bettye!
bettyewp
AND, if you’re lucky, you get a sticker! Haha! *I* never have, personally, but I know others who have.
Daenel T
Great topic. Thank you for sharing such valuable and pertinent information.
bettyewp
Thanks Daenel. Have been on the fence about it for awhile, was this all too obvious? But I figured if *I* was only just learning all this now, maybe someone else is, too!
Julie in Melbourne
I agree with Julia, every time I vote I always think of who fought for me to have that vote, especially all the suffragettes who went to prison and were force fed while on hunger strike.
On a different note, in Australia, when we vote the school or local organisations where it’s happening have a sausage sizzle while your queuing or as you come out of voting. We call it the “democracy sausage”. Everyone must vote here it’s compulsory, I like that as “we” only have ourselves to blame if we don’t like our politicians. It helps keep us more to the centre as they have to appeal to people who are not interested in politics.
We still don’t have a say in our head of state though so not a full democracy.
bettyewp
“I always think of who fought for me to have that vote, especially all the suffragettes who went to prison and were force-fed while on hunger strike.” OOh, good point, Julie!
Mandatory voting, wow. How do they enforce that?
A sausage sizzle sounds nice 🙂