This is Not an Elective Day

Did you?

Today in California it is Election Day.  And this one is big as it is a Presidential Primary Election Day.  We have going on in our country one of the craziest, most bizarre election campaigns going on that I can remember.  Of course I think we say that every election year, but, truly this one seems to go beyond the bounds of normal to say the least.  So many are angry.  So many feel disenfranchised.  So many have given up of our grand experiment of democracy in a republic.  This is why it is so important for every citizen of the State of California, yay, even the entire country the U.S.A., to vote.

If you don't vote, you give up your right to complain.  Of course people still complain even if they don't vote. Exercise can be painful which is why I suppose some don't exercise their constitutional privilege of voting.   But pain or not, inconvenient or not, voting is something that is incumbent upon us all to do.

I love going to the polls.  I know the trend is toward mail-ins and probably someday, electronic online voting.  Change is good if it gets people to do their duty.  But for me, walking into my polling place, marking my ballot and putting it into the ballot box just feels so good.  Sometimes I wonder if my vote really matters.  I'm just one person.  What would it matter if I didn't vote?  It would, though.  Every vote counts, no matter what the cynics say.

Casting my vote for a presidential candidate or our local mayor or even the grass-root propostions just feels so right.  The results may not go accordingly with my vote, but at least my voice is heard, even if it is just one among 8 million of the projected votes to be cast today.  I heard on NPR that voter turn-out is expected to be about 45% of registered voters.  That seems so sad to me.  Why even register if you are not going to vote??

Okay, I'm stepping down from my soapbox now, but I want to leave you with one more thought.  This is Election Day.  It is not Elective Day as so many seem to think.  Voting is not elective, it is a responsibility and a right and to not vote is not participate in what is and continues to be, one of the greatest experiments ever undertaken in the history of man.  Let's not let the reality show feeling of this current campaign keep us from doing what is right.

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