Election Day by Tommia Wright

So today was election day and my ballot was put to post (since polling places are few). Tomorrow puts an end to the positively negative campaign ads. Tomorrow puts the pundits on pulpits preparing public pondering of predictions and exit polls in comparison to the votes made known.

This year’s election put me in the ‘it figures’ category: one candidate I felt strongly about in terms of giving Heck to congress – I couldn’t vote for. I don’t live in that district. Another candidate I had hopes for in terms of bringing about change – yep, I’m in the wrong district. In looking at the choices I had for where I lived… Well….It felt like an exercise in ‘the lesser of the evils.’ Sad, when there’s a tinge of guilt based on who to vote for, who will be the best choice to get the job done, to lead the district/county/state/nation.

Going to a celebration tonight to watch the results pour in (I lasted maybe an hour before departing, map colored, stickers/pens/pin collected), it was interesting to see how many elected to join, to observe, to participate. Of course the lateness of the start time to the event might have had something to do with it.

There was a chat I had with a friend who had the firm believe that if you are ___, then obviously, you vote for ____. If your job is __, then the only logical choice is __. I will say right now that while I may fill in the box for a candidate, I will not be forced to ‘fit’ into any given box based on who I am, what I do or what I believe in. That is the wonderful thing about elections -that every eligible person has the right to be heard and not have to justify or be coerced into casting their votes accordingly.

Thank you to the men and women who fight to preserve that freedom that some of us dangerously take for granted.