We interrupt this program to bring you a (somewhat) brief message.
Your enthusiasm and passion for this election is laudable. You've been urged to donate, to phone bank, to write songs and create web sites and participate in blogs and contact the media.
This is all good.
Now there's one thing more you can do. And please don't stop till the end.
Visit your county board of elections or election commission and volunteer to be an an election judge. I've done it between contract jobs and this year I'll be taking a day off from work to do it in November.
All you need to do is show up, fill out a form, and take an oath. You also need to declare a party, a little problematic for independents, but it's for the purpose of making sure the major parties are represented evenly at the polls. If you're a fair-minded individual to begin with, this shouldn't be a sticking point for you.
Why bother? Granted, it's a damn long day for maybe a few extra bucks. But there's so much more to get from it:
- You not only participate in the process, but you help the process happen for your neighbors and everyone else.
- You learn how write-in votes and provisional ballots work.
- You see firsthand how voting machines are set up.
- You ensure that rules are followed appropriately at the polling place. (No electioneering, for example.)
Most importantly, there is NOTHING on Earth that can make you prouder to be an American. No candidate, no policies, nothing. I've served in our military and I've been a voter registrar and just nothing compares. And I'll tell you why.
Because let me tell you, at the end of the day, when you deliver that ballot box to a central location, it is awe-inspiring to see just how many of your fellow citizens it takes to make a Presidential election happen in America. The vast numbers of volunteers from the breadth of the political spectrum, some not old enough to vote and others well into their senior years, is mind-boggling.
The fact that this election happens in every county in America - across the entire nation - on the same day is a testament to what it truly means to be a citizen in this nation. No other event encompasses every county in every state like this does, and to see the legions of ordinary people successfully pull this off in front of the eyes of the rest of the world - and because they care - well, that's what America is all about.
I urge you to see it for yourself. Make the time. Volunteer to be an election judge. You won't regret it.
We return you to your regularly-scheduled browsing...