![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Have you voted?
Tue, Nov. 6th, 2012 07:59 amFirst thing on your to-do list today: VOTE. Not voting means abrogating your civic responsibility, your hard-won right to express your feelings about the direction of this country, about how decisions are made, about the rights and responsibilities of the people and the government. One vote may not seem important, but in the aggregate, every vote matters, and that's how you make a contribution in this country. Even if it means voting for the lesser of two evils from your perspective, it still makes a difference; don't think for a moment that it doesn't. Vote.
I voted a couple of weeks back. Here in Washington state everyone votes by mail, which means we can vote in the privacy of our own homes, without the threat of "poll watchers," without voter ID laws--just us and our ballots. With only one or two exceptions down-ticket, I voted straight Democratic: Obama/Biden, Inslee, Cantwell, McDermott. I voted for gay marriage (because marriage is a civil right, not a religious issue or a "special" circumstance as its proponents would have you believe) and marijuana legalization (because once it's legal, it's less attractive to criminals and, oh, by the way, helps people with medical issues). I voted against charter schools (because they take money from public schools, they're not accountable for said money once it's in their hands, they're still unproven as a decidedly superior alternative, and they're too easily exploited by private and religious interests).
( In case you're wondering why I voted for Obama )
Sophie inspected my ballot before it went into the mail to be sure that feline interests were covered. She was satisfied.
I still don't understand, however, why Washington state has a postmarked-by deadline rather than an 8PM-Election-Day deadline. With ballots by mail and a postmarked-by deadline, we're still counting votes days after the rest of the country has made its decision, at least in the presidential race. It ends up meaning that our votes don't really mean that much in said race, and that bothers me quite a bit. Last night, a friend of mine suggested that, given the amount of military and naval personnel in the state, the postmarked-by deadline may ensure that everyone can get their ballots in and have them counted. But other states have huge military presences, too, and it doesn't seem to be an issue for them. This thing, I don't get.
So my most important duty for the day has been done--was done a while ago. Now the counting and the watching begins.
I voted a couple of weeks back. Here in Washington state everyone votes by mail, which means we can vote in the privacy of our own homes, without the threat of "poll watchers," without voter ID laws--just us and our ballots. With only one or two exceptions down-ticket, I voted straight Democratic: Obama/Biden, Inslee, Cantwell, McDermott. I voted for gay marriage (because marriage is a civil right, not a religious issue or a "special" circumstance as its proponents would have you believe) and marijuana legalization (because once it's legal, it's less attractive to criminals and, oh, by the way, helps people with medical issues). I voted against charter schools (because they take money from public schools, they're not accountable for said money once it's in their hands, they're still unproven as a decidedly superior alternative, and they're too easily exploited by private and religious interests).
( In case you're wondering why I voted for Obama )
Sophie inspected my ballot before it went into the mail to be sure that feline interests were covered. She was satisfied.
I still don't understand, however, why Washington state has a postmarked-by deadline rather than an 8PM-Election-Day deadline. With ballots by mail and a postmarked-by deadline, we're still counting votes days after the rest of the country has made its decision, at least in the presidential race. It ends up meaning that our votes don't really mean that much in said race, and that bothers me quite a bit. Last night, a friend of mine suggested that, given the amount of military and naval personnel in the state, the postmarked-by deadline may ensure that everyone can get their ballots in and have them counted. But other states have huge military presences, too, and it doesn't seem to be an issue for them. This thing, I don't get.
So my most important duty for the day has been done--was done a while ago. Now the counting and the watching begins.