VOTE!

Today is election day. Though we have mail-in voting privileges here in Washington, I really like to go to the polling place to turn in my ballot. I miss the old booths with the little curtains, and standing in line watching the feet to see which booth will next be vacated. I enjoyed carrying in my tattered Voting Pamphlet with my choices circled and punching the little rectangles on the voting card, my young children hanging on my legs, peeking under the curtains, learning about the whole democratic process.

When I was in high school, our house was a polling place. We lived in the country in a little town in northern California and on election day, Doris Kennedy, the local ballot official, would show up at our house early in the morning with all her voting paraphernalia. We would fly the American flag outside and wait for our neighbors to show up and vote. Though I've never been very politically minded, I felt proud that our family was contributing to the American dream in a tangible way. I watched people come in our front door and disappear into the curtained booth in our living room. And at the end of the day, Doris would carefully gather up the ballot box, pack up the booth, and take down the flag. It seemed like such a powerful thing to me, that boxed collection of the people's will.

There is a two-page spread in our current Voters' Pamphlet about the history of women voting in America. A little perspective goes a long way toward valuing our right to vote. Despite the flaws in the system, the failings of our elected officials, the cynicism of the people, it's a right we can't afford to waste or to lose, "that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."

Be sure and vote today!