This election was my first voting experience. four years ago, some idiots on campus messed up my registration and failed to inform me until it was too late to fix it. But not this time! I wouldn't allow some foolish volunteer to ruin my opportunity to fulfill my civic responsibility!
The only thing that came close to getting in my way is a complete and utter hatred of the DMV. Apparently, if your drivers license address is different that your real address, you have to fix it somehow through the DMV. I almost gave up when I heard those three letters. The DMV is the worst!!
Luckily, Lee figured out how to do this address fixing deal on the DMV website. He rescued me from a fate worse than voting: NOT voting.
After all this, I felt obligated to actually put forth effort and learn about the candidates of local elections. I studiously read everything on this Utah voters website. They just send short questionnaires to the various candidates and post the replies on the website. I refused to vote for anyone who didn't answer the questions.
In the end, I went to the voting booth feeling confidently informed about the issues I cared about. It wasn't until I got to the end and had to choose really local leaders--you know, the ones where my individual vote could have made a difference--that I was stumped. No where has I been able to find any information about elections this miniscule. I must admit to having voted for the people with the best sounding names.
In the end, it seems that most of the people in Utah disagreed with me about the proper persons for each position. Only one of the people I voted for actually got elected. Now I have experienced the most important part of the election process: my vote doesn't matter.
It mattered. Just not the way you hoped it would.
ReplyDelete