Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Vote: It's Your Voice

I am the least political person you could run into.....or should I say the least politically overt person you'd come across.  My beliefs and convictions are strong yet airing them in public isn't something that I am overly comfortable with.  The French class that I am currently enrolled in asks us to discuss politics in French of all things, and while I find it complicated to discuss in English, trying to get your point across with a limited number of words at hand forces one to take their beliefs to their most basic and be as succinct as possible.  It is certainly an exercise in processing information to the least common denominator.  Political rhetoric gets tossed aside for appropriate verb conjugation.  

On my way to class today I voted.  Here in Chicago we have a window of a week before election day where we can visit any one of fifty polling places to make our voice heard.  This wasn't available to me in our last presidential election and I remember voting day being a bit insane.  Today was less so, although being in the middle of a city with three million residents is never going to be without its glitches.  Lines were long (a good sign--people are voting) and the ballot here went on forever.  Six pages of people and positions I was unfamiliar with.  So I voted.  One check mark for the next president of our country. 

I may not tell you who to vote for or who I voted for but I would tell you TO vote:  it's your voice.  

Photo credit:  Enrico Fuente@flickr

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