Here in the United States, today is Election Day. I kluged together an art project to honor the one opinion we probably all share.
The country got started via the right to vote. Let’s keep doing it. And I’ll promise to get better at Photoshop by the time the next election comes around.
31 Responses
I arrived at the polling place about 10 minutes after it opened. The wait was about an hour. It is difficult to feel my vote will make a difference, at least in the presidential election. I live in an overwhelmingly blue state, so whether I vote for Obama, Romney, a third party candidate or not at all, there is a zero chance my vote will tip my state’s electoral votes. I think we might be better off without the electoral college.
I agree about the electoral college, it’s usefulness has long since been over.
It is a concept that needs to be explained every 4 years on Austrian television. Since it is so far from the way we vote! ;-)
I early voted on Friday and shut my mind to the mudslinging that ramped up over the weekend. One of the few pleasures conferred on those residing in Ks. : )
I will walk the block and a half to my neighborhood elementary school to vote today. I could vote early, but I like the ceremony of voting on Election Day. I like feeling that I’m a part of something important to our nation. I live in a state where my vote does not “matter” as far as the electoral college. But it matters to me. *smile*
Doc, I happen to agree with you on the electoral college.
I not only voted, I voted early and for a third party candidate. I can’t, in good conscience, vote for either of the other two clowns running. I just…can’t.
I am one of those truly corny people who gets chills and misty eyes when I walk into a polling place. Every time.
Love this Miss LPC.
I’ll be going to vote soon. I’m extremely nervous about the election. Mitt Romney is the Trojan Horse for Paul Ryan and the Tea Party, and it’s quite scary. Talk about regressive. Sorry, I’m sure I’ve offended other commenters, but I can be a blurter too.
I vote “not offended”. : )
Oh, and you did a great job on your artwork. Love it.
I can’t think of a better post for a blog named Privilege.
I am curious whether Americans consider that the rest of the world has a stake in the American election?
I live in a country which has to date followed the US into every major post WW2 war and people are concerned here as to the outcome.
You Americans: Make sure you vote for the right man.
Your election has an influence even on Finland!!!!
Yes, I absolutely consider it! Fun fact: we lived in Germany during the Bush jr. era. Eek.
I wish I could say I did, but frankly anxiety and concern for my own country were foremost in my mind when I slid my completed ballot into the optical scanner. Still, had that been my first consideration, my decision would have been the same.
I stood in line, in the dark, for 45 minutes in below freezeing temperatures. I waited inside for about 20 minutes. I prayed. I meditated. I voted. (Yay!) As I drove home, the sun was shining, the temperature had risen to 27 degrees. Instead of wearing my “I Voted” sticker, I put it on the refrigerator next to my son’s “Proud Parent of a … Honor Student” bumper sticker. (Haven’t been able to bring myself put it on my actual car bumper. Issues.) Today is a day of cleaning projects, cooking and reading to keep us productive (school holiday)and clear of political mania – until tonight.
Your artwork is inspiring. If you haven’t done so already, you really should print it out and put it on the refrigerator.
Bravo to you! I voted early by mail.
Lisa, not only did I use indelible ink on my early ballot, but I marched it in and cast it by hand, leaving nothing to chance: I live in a swing state, and each vote really counts.
Every election, as I complete my ballot, I carry with me an image of my great-grandmother; it’s in part because of her committed efforts that I have the right to vote. She was a staunch and vocal Suffragette who at one point was thrown into a Washington, DC, jail for her refusal to back down. The image in question is a photograph, splashed in the papers the following day, that shows her, grim-faced, behind bars.
I believe that structure, both on the personal and societal level, has a clear and useful place; perpetual chaos in any sphere of life or aspect of being leads to serious stuckness. The critical question is, what does that structure look like? Is it a cage (like my great-grandmother’s jail cell) that confines and represses, or is it a scaffold that supports, and allows broad vision?
I’ll vote for the sturdiest scaffold every time. I urge everyone to do the same, whatever your vision of that scaffold might be.
Lisa, you’ve got Photoshop chops. Nice job with the right sentiment.
I will vote after work – they moved my polling place to an old building with no parking in the historic part of our town. I have no idea how long it will take, but I don’t care. I will get choked up like I do every.single.time.
My parents will go to their polling place together and cancel out each other’s votes.
I joined the Air Force after college and, for over 20 years, voting was largely a solitary act between me and my absentee ballot. Now I’m a crusty veteran and I love the walk to my neighborhood voting place. Too many privileged women behaved badly to help us get the vote for me to take it for granted. Like The Preppy Princess, it touches me somewhere important.
Let democracy take its course.Ida
Like others have said – I could vote absentee – but prefer to go to the polls. There were no lines at my polling place – but no place to park – so I also got my morning walk in!
What am most proud of today is my daughter’s post on Facebook in response to her friend’s posting about taking her child with her to vote:
We’ve always taken the kids with us to vote…I think its important for them to see the process. This year with drama class and soccer practice it would be much easier to go while the kids are at school, but I grew up going with my mom and I want my kids to see me vote.
We were up way before the chickens and stood in line as the sun rose, clutching our coffees and talking to neighbors.
I’m a Virginian so I believe my vote is of the utmost importance.
Obama is not a clown to me. He has signed some very bills into law with one hand tied behind his back my congress.
Lily Ledbetter doesn’t think he’s a clown.
And Artsy in Boulder made me cry.
beautifully written response to a wonderful Lisa post.
Here’s to the 19th amendment!
xo jane
Yes, including the right to detain you, an American citizen, without due process.
I stood in line and voted. I too get chills every time. I am not always convinced my vote matters but I am always honored to have the privilege.
I meant to vote early but was felled by a stomach virus and then foiled by a faulty memory – early voting ended one day before I thought it was supposed to. Then I feared I wouldn’t be able to vote today because my sister was having cataract surgery and I didn’t see how I could manage logistically. The surgery was successful and she felt well enough to let me stop at my polling place to check the line length. The election judges said it was the shortest line they had seen all day and I was able to cast my ballot within 15 minutes of arriving! It probably won’t affect the electoral results at all, but I feel so much better about that, knowing I was able to voice my (minority in this state) opinion.
I voted early–week before last–at a local church. The line was out the door, but everything was run so efficiently that the whole process only took ten minutes. I’ve spent the time since then working for the President (Obama) as part of his ground team, calling voters in Florida. Surprisingly, some voting locations were being changed at the last minute (!) and some voters were receiving letters as late as two days ago telling them they were ineligible to vote even though they had a voter registration card. Voter suppression worries me most.
Best of all, our daughter in law took our three year old grandson to vote and then out to lunch afterwards. She emailed me a cute photo of him eating a cookie with icing that said “I voted.”
We have early voting in Tennessee, and we were very happy to vote on the first day the polls were open. Presently, we are watching the returns. It sounds as though it will be some time before a winner is declared.
3 hours! People had to line up and wait for 3 hours to vote.
The USA seem to be different than the picture I have on my mind.
Bravo to everyone who voted, no matter how timeconsuming and annoying voting was.
And I am really relieved to hear that there won’t be any legal/technical issues due to akward ballot-systems. Horray!
And, in conclusion, thank you for keeping our discussion here so civil. Let us all hope for good things in the next four years.
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