This is my fourth Presidential election as an of-age, registered voter. The first three times I voted absentee; twice from Winston-Salem, once from Germany. This year I voted early. There's something so thrilling about walking up to a polling place, getting your sticker and tapping on that electronic machine. It's life-changing, for both the candidates and their constituents. It's also maddening the way that people descend upon you like vultures to decaying meat in order to give you one last push in their direction. So is the American way I suppose.
I'm grateful that I've never lived in a world where my country restricted the right to vote based on ethincity or gender. I was born into the first term of Ronald Reagan's presidency, and have no recollection of his second. But I very vividly remember the 1988 election of George H. W. Bush over Michael Dukakis because we talked about it so much in elementary school. I remember writing an essay about the new President Bill Clinton in 1992, because I was in an "academically gifted" program and we went to a different school a few days a month to be taught "smart stuff". I remember that essay because I wrote "Let's give him a chance, after all, we've seen what the Republicans have done to us", and my teacher Mrs. Smouse commented, "Yes, I have!". And how crazy Ross Perot seemed. I have ZERO recollection of the 1996 election, I guess I was in that transition from middle to high school and Bob Dole was SO bizarre. The 2000 election was a huge deal, because it was my first year in college and I was old enough to vote *finally*. Who could forget the "hanging Chads", Bush winning the electoral vote despite not winning the popular vote, and all the drama that ensued? I remember taking a Salem bus to the LJVM to watch the televised debate from WFU. In 2004 I was living in Winston but hadn't changed my voter registration, so I voted absentee again when Bush defeated Kerry.
I remember getting our absentee ballots in Germany in 2008 and realizing how important this election was. I was married to a soldier, living overseas, and knew my whole life could change based on that vote. This year, I feel far less connected to the Presidential race because I'm here, living in North Carolina and can SEE what a difference my local and state votes can make. I hope that everyone votes, because they appreciate that right to vote, not because everyone on Facebook and News 2 tells them to. I hope they vote for the candidates they think can make a difference, not the ones that are most like them. I hope my friends don't turn into people I don't recognize tomorrow, when this is all (hopefully) over. And in 2016, I can't wait to take my kids to the polls with me and talk to them about how important this right is, how everyone didn't always have it, and how men like their great grandfather and their father fought to protect it.
Today, vote. But mostly, be grateful that you were born into a country with that right to vote, that you haven't fought a war over it and the Constitution allowed you to vote by virtue of your citizenship. In this country, it is your true birthright.
