My Election Day Wishes

I learned my first lessons about democracy and civics and elections at a very young age. My elementary school was a polling place. They had the voting booths right smack in the middle of our cafeteria. I remember each election day watching the adults do their thing with a sense of awe. I barely ate my lunch, I was so busy listening to the whirs and clicks and thunks of those old, manual voting machines. At recess, I didn’t play. Instead, I continued to watch the adults stream in and out, my nose pressed to the glass walls of the cafeteria. I knew very little about the candidates and issues, but I knew I wanted to be a voter.

I also learned, while I was at that school, about convictions. Here’s just one example: Our principal was also a preacher. We started each day with our fellow students leading us over the intercom in both the Pledge of Allegiance and the Lord’s Prayer. My home town is small and very Christian and this was in the 80s, so I doubt anyone had a problem with that. But even if someone did, I think our principal would have fought tooth and nail to keep that morning prayer time in his school. Like it or not, that man had convictions. And from him, and other adults at that school and in my life, I learned what it meant to have beliefs, and to stand by them. I was taught that I was smart enough, I was capable enough, and I was trustworthy enough to be allowed to make decisions. But I was also responsible enough to live with the consequences of my decisions.

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These are my wishes for election day. I wish that everyone who can vote will vote. Many people, some of my family and dear friends included, live in America but can’t vote. Imagine how frustrating that must be — living under the laws of this country but having no voice, no representation. Don’t take your right to vote for granted.

I also wish that everyone who does vote will be smart, capable and trustworthy. I hope that voters will not vote based on fear and distrust and anger and confusion and any number of transitory, yet all-too-influential emotions. Rather, I hope voters will take the time to research and plan and yes, even pray about their choices, and then make a decision.

And of course, I wish that we can all be responsible and live with the results of our convictions and our votes, whatever the outcome of the elections or the resulting decisions made by our local, state and national leaders.

And for everyone reading this, I have a special wish for you. I wish for you to always be proud of your convictions, and to never be afraid to use your voice to share them with the world.

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