I Voted - Early!
I stood in line for two hours this morning and cast my vote in the 2016 general election. As promised, I voted for Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine for President and Vice-President.
Down-Ticket
Down-ticket I voted a mix of Democrats and Republicans depending on local issues.
(I voted Republican in one race specifically because the other candidate was Libertarian, and that ship sailed a LONG time ago for me. Peter Thiel’s dystopian interpretation and realization of that philosophy hasn’t helped their cause.)
Embarrassingly, this was the first time I sat down and read all the election prep documents that Arizona and Gilbert sent out, and Googled and researched various candidates for the local “non-partisan” elections. It’s amazing what you learn, and it made me sign up for permanent early voting, even before I realized it would allow me to skip the two-hour wait at the early voting stations.
Vote!
The polls are going to be nuts on election day, if (as I hope) voter turnout is good. If you are a legal voter in the United States (even if living out of the country) I hope you have made provisions to cast your ballot this year - our franchise is not something to give up lightly.
I’ve had family members and friends half-joke about whether their vote is going to “count” – if their vote is not the same as mine, or if their preferred candidate does not win – as if one’s vote is only worth casting if it’s a “deciding vote”. Your vote absolutely counts, as David Walbert explains:
> …every vote does count; it just counts in a more complicated way. When you vote for president, remember that you’re voting in a state election, not a national election.
(Read that whole article, it’s interesting)
No matter, what, the fact that we can vote and participate in this democracy is crucial. Get out and do it. The only way your vote stops counting is if:
- You throw it away by not voting
- Candidates start deciding they’re not going to honor the results.
