Choose to Vote

Fervor is the weapon of choice of the impotent.
– Frantz Fanon

I was substituting in a fourth grade class last week and a girl asked me who I was going to vote for. You have to keep both religion and politics out of the school, so I told her, “That’s a very personal question.”

I did tell her though that I choose to vote. I have voted in every election since I turned 18. I even mailed in a ballot during the 2000 election from Brasil (which I’m pretty sure didn’t arrive in time to be official, and I wasn’t voting in Florida so even if it had I doubt my vote would’ve made a difference).

I’m pretty sure the only way a candidate would ever agree with me on all the issues is if I were that candidate. Which will probably never happen. So I pick the issues that are most important to me and then find a candidate who agrees with me the most on those. Not all issues are equal. So I weight the similarities.

I’m registered to vote, but I’m not registered with either party. Four years ago near the election Brett and I went on a date and I recall sitting at the high tables at Panda Express while he went through a whole list of issues and asked me where I stood on them. There are issues I align with the Democrats on. There are issues I align with the Republicans on. It was actually a fun conversation. And then we went to see Kung Fu Panda.

There was a major election while I was in Brasil. In Brasil, if you are old enough to vote you are required by law to vote. They don’t have problems with voter turn outs. And if your name gets drawn to work the polls, you have to work the polls or go to jail. Since the Brazilian missionaries in our mission couldn’t exactly get home to vote, the mission office had to do a bit of paper work to get them cleared. My companion at the time had been chosen to work the polls back where she was from so we had to do some extra stuff so she wouldn’t get arrested for not showing up. And nobody resents being told to vote either. There are people in this country who would only vote if there was a law saying they either voted or went to jail.

I’m not going to say who I’m voting for here just like I wouldn’t tell that fourth grader. Although if you know me pretty well you’d probably be able to guess on the big issues. But after an appointment this morning we’re headed to the polls and I’ll get my “I Voted” sticker. I’ll say a prayer for the country. And then I’ll watch the results come in tonight.

Choose to vote.