I have always enjoyed going to the polls on election day. For all the study I’ve done about what people went through so that I may cast a vote and share in the democratic process, I consider voting a sacred honor.
Going back multiple great-grandfathers, voting has been a tradition since the founding of the country. I don’t have the voting records, but as a volunteer in Washington’s Continental Army, I’m sure my ancestor wouldn’t have skipped voting in that first election. Of course he was a property owning white man, so voting would have been his honor and duty.
So I now also vote to honor all of those who had to wait and fight to earn their voting rights. Those who didn’t own property, those who weren’t white, those who weren’t men. To not vote would be to spit in the eyes of all of those too, along with my own ancestors.
For me it is an event to dress for. Often I will don a suit and tie, and shine up a pair of oxfords. At the minimum I’ll appear in a blazer or sport coat, but a tie is always around the collar of a freshly pressed shirt.
I greet the poll workers cheerfully and thank them for taking the time to help with this important cause. And it is so very important. Our entire system of government hinges on us doing so in a free and fair manner.
After getting and completing my ballot I turn it in and collect an “I voted” sticker and proudly wear it for the rest of the day. I used to have a paper that I stuck them to. I lost it somewhere in a move, and have no idea how many stickers were attached. Now, I’ve taken to sticking them on my computer monitor. This is self regulating, as I can’t completely fill the perimeter with them before I need a new monitor. Oh yes, there are votes to cast most every year, and even more then once. There are local elections, votes on milages, primary elections, besides the general. I get them all. It is my sacred duty, remember. I would be shirking my responsibility as a citizen to be unaware of an election. Democracy is a participatory process.
When I was a sailor I often voted absentee. This was fine, I was gone. But I always looked forward to elections where I was home so I could participate in person.
This year is different. Though I expect to be around, I will definitely be staying home. There is a pandemic afoot, and I would like to vote in many more elections in the years to come.
But voting is no less sacred this year. And more important than any in any year of my life. For this year it may well be that the democracy that supports our republic is on the line. As in generations past, Fascism is alive and growing. Oh sure, they aren’t calling it that, but make no mistake,
It is what it is.
But fortune has shined on the state of Michigan. During the last election we passed by voter initiative a law allowing for absentee voting without reason. Previously you had to apply and swear to a reason you couldn’t vote in person. Now, just ask for a ballot and do your duty from the safety of home.
I Dropped my ballot off at the Township Hall the other day. My vote will be cast and counted. Across the country millions more have done or are doing the same.
On Election Day I will be secure in my home away from the scourge of SARS-CoV-2. But I’ll know that I’ve done my part and completed that most sacred duty.
And I will absolutely be wearing a suit.