Voter Number 678
By Jesi Yost
4 Nov 2008
Today is Election Day. I believe it's our right and our duty as American citizens to vote in every election. I have voted in most of the elections since I turned eighteen. I have always believed in voting. I have always believed that my vote counted, that the United States had the most reliable best possible way to elect leaders. I believed that we are all equal that everyone's vote equals the same as everyone else's vote.
I, of course, had heard stories of voter fraud, of people being turned away at the polls. I, of course, knew that two hundred years ago, you had to be a wealthy white, male to vote, but I thought those days had passed...until the 2008 election fiasco.
After 08 my innocence and utter belief in our system was gone forever. I like most other people began to question our system. It had never occurred to me that not every voting booth was the same. I had no idea that people in this country still had ballots... that in some areas there was actual paper involved. How can the system be fair if not everyone is using the same methods for casting ballots. Just how many votes are lost to things like hanging chads? Why don't we count each and every absentee ballot even if they cannot change the election out come?
I want my Vote counted!
I went to my polling place today. I watched a woman help her elderly Mother into the building. I was touched that this woman was making the effort to vote...to have her voice heard. She was a few people in front of me. While she was in the booth I was waiting my turn. She came out a few minutes later. I smiled at her.
There was some discussion between the women working the polls. Why was the elderly woman's booth light still lit?
It turns out that her vote was never cast. Her vote didn't count. I don't know weather she was confused when faced with the ballot. Maybe she didn't use enough force to make her choice. Perhaps she forgot to push the green VOTE button.
The elderly woman's vote did not register. I stood there helpless. It was obvious that she was there to choose. It was obvious that it was a struggle for this woman to make it to the polls today. It was obvious that not everyone's vote counts.
1 response
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Michael Adams gave props (5 Nov 2008):
Powerful story with an awesome series of photos! got my vote
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