Nearing the End of 22 Months...

[gnomi]

Is it Tuesday yet?

mabfan and I intend to be at our polling place when they open tomorrow at 7 AM, be among the first in our precinct to cast our votes, and then head in to work.

I'm the first to admit it -- I have complete election fatigue. Twenty-two months is considerably too long for any campaign to run.

Whatever else you do tomorrow, if you are a registered voter in the United States and have not yet voted (I know some of you live in early-voting states), *please* go out and exercise your franchise. I'm not publicly endorsing any candidate or any stand on any of the three questions on the Massachusetts ballot. Just go vote. Please.

Comments

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

Actually, we plan to get there at 6:45 am.

[caryabend.livejournal.com]

We're splitting our time. Jo will vote in the morning, and I will vote after work. Thankfully, the polling place is across the street, so if the lines are long, it won't be a huge deal for me. Plus, as long as I'm in line, I get to vote, even if the polls have closed.

[(Anonymous)]

We should exercise our very important right to vote and take part in the democratic process.
But what should those of us who are informed and have thoughtfully gone over the whole thing many many times yet remain hopelessly undecided do when we go to the polls?

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I've heard different approaches to this dilemma. One is to abstain in the races for which you are still undecided and vote in the ones for which you have a candidate/issue of choice.

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks. That does make sense in general. For the specific race, however, is abstaining really taking part in the process?
In this particular presidential contest, I've felt that to make my vote mean something I need to vote for one of the two main tickets. I hadn't previously considered abstention a valid, active choice. Hmm.
How will I feel about it tomorrow? Will I regret having wasted an opportunity to cast a historic vote? Will I regret having failed to vote against a danger?
Yes, my one vote in a non-swing state won't matter much. But how I vote matters to me. My vote will characterize me for the rest of my life.
"Go vote," I hear. Go vote to abstain? "Exercise your franchise," you say. Will I be exercising it?
State and local races and questions aside, how is going to the polls to abstain different from not voting?
It feels quite odd not to have been decided on a choice.
I really am experiencing a crisis.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I know a number of folks who were/are undecided for the presidential race this year. It's completely understandable to not have a candidate whom you feel speaks for you (I was not undecided, but the candidate for whom I voted does not, in fact, completely speak for me).

And I believe that voting in some races and abstaining in others *is* a valid exercise of your franchise. Walking into that voting booth in itself is the exercise of the franchise. *How* you choose to exercise that franchise is completely a personal decision, something we're granted as part of our US citizenship.

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you so much. You are right.