Voting Day
There is a small white sign on the side of a quiet dirt road that reads, "Precent 3 vote here!" that points back to a fanatically beautiful white church. I carefully pull into the parking lot in attempt to not one of the many lobbyists who are making their final push to try to get their county official elected. I appreciate their enthusiasm but am secretly praying that their efforts are not effective because that means there are uninformed or undecided voters going to the polls. A quick scan of the parking lot reveals a strategy as to how I can get from my car to the lobbyist free zone of the building.
As I enter into the church gymnasium to begin my voting process I see a young voter standing in front of me. She came to vote wearing a blue cherry imprinted tank top that barley covered her from boobs to belly button coupled with a pair of pajama pants that were flirting with disaster. I try my hardest to not pass judgement on her maturity based on her clothing choices, and instead try to feel thankful that the youngest voters are doing their part today. We walk through the line together filling out forms and having our driver licenses checked. As we arrive at the end of the table another official picks up a ballot and begins to explain how to fill it out properly. The young girl then opens her mouth to share her thoughts with the official and I.
"This is all so confusing" she said
Initially understood because the first time a young voter comes across a ballot it can be overwhelming, but then she continued "I mean, there are just so many people on it, and I don't even recognize most of their names. How am I supposed to vote?"
The election official's eyes grew twice their size as she said, "You don't have to vote for every position. You can just vote for the ones you know."
"Oh, well I know who I want to vote for for president...but I don't know about all of these other people. I guess I'm going to have to try to remember what I heard on all those T.V. ads to help me decide."
The election official and I shared a look of complete fear and astonishment. Without another word she handed me my ballot, and as she handed the other girl she said the most dispassionate "here ya go" that I've ever heard. I believe that everyone has their right to vote for what or who they believe in, but at that moment I wanted to turn to her and slap some sense into her.
As I enter into the church gymnasium to begin my voting process I see a young voter standing in front of me. She came to vote wearing a blue cherry imprinted tank top that barley covered her from boobs to belly button coupled with a pair of pajama pants that were flirting with disaster. I try my hardest to not pass judgement on her maturity based on her clothing choices, and instead try to feel thankful that the youngest voters are doing their part today. We walk through the line together filling out forms and having our driver licenses checked. As we arrive at the end of the table another official picks up a ballot and begins to explain how to fill it out properly. The young girl then opens her mouth to share her thoughts with the official and I.
"This is all so confusing" she said
Initially understood because the first time a young voter comes across a ballot it can be overwhelming, but then she continued "I mean, there are just so many people on it, and I don't even recognize most of their names. How am I supposed to vote?"
The election official's eyes grew twice their size as she said, "You don't have to vote for every position. You can just vote for the ones you know."
"Oh, well I know who I want to vote for for president...but I don't know about all of these other people. I guess I'm going to have to try to remember what I heard on all those T.V. ads to help me decide."
The election official and I shared a look of complete fear and astonishment. Without another word she handed me my ballot, and as she handed the other girl she said the most dispassionate "here ya go" that I've ever heard. I believe that everyone has their right to vote for what or who they believe in, but at that moment I wanted to turn to her and slap some sense into her.