The Power Of A Single Vote

It’s time once again to vote for our elected leaders.

The emotion that voting should bring out in citizens is patriotism. When you see the misery in other parts of the world, and see how people want to change but experience untold hardship, you can’t help thinking how much easier it could be if they could vote and choose their leaders.

Americans are notorious complainers, and we never seem satisfied with anything the government does for us. But when it’s all said and done, we are very lucky to live in the United States and have the right to vote.

Don’t you get kind of tickled when you see people lining up at voting places to cast their ballots?

If you don’t, it’s probably because many people take our cherished freedoms for granted.

Probably the most American thing is when an ordinary citizen goes into a poll booth, all alone, armed only with their weapon, a ballot – a ballot that’s going to be filled out by an individual not bothered by blaring commercials, or sign-carrying supporters or a timing device.

It’s a very special place where you can share a secret with the system: whom you would like to be your leaders for the next couple of years.

It is true that people try to tamper with the system.

“Don’t you get kind of tickled when you see people lining up at voting places to cast their ballots?”

There are always cries of foul play, charges of ballot stuffing and other clever ways of circumventing the system, but they haven’t ever been successful. The voting system in America is tried, true and tested. Its intent is pure, designed to give everyone a say, albeit a small say, but a say nevertheless.

It’s easy to see how the younger generation will someday take over the legislative branch of government and push through online voting. Just about everything we do these days is online.

The argument against it will be that there is too much room for fraud.

Of course, by the time that all happens, there will be programs and devices that will thwart any attempt to influence an election.

I personally favor mail-in voting. Hawaii’s system is application-based, meaning the ballots are only mailed to qualified residents. If no one receives it, the voting information is nonfor-wardable. You have to sign the ballot when you mail it back in, and it is checked against voter signatures kept on a data base.

Simply put, it works well. It’s easy to see why 27 states and the District of Columbia have adopted mail-in voting without requiring any excuse. As you would expect, just about everyone has an excuse why they can’t be present at their correct polling place. Can’t blame them when polling places change every couple of years.

I apologize for making a connection between patriotism and the right to vote, but I believe everyone should vote because it make us a stronger democracy, and it will make you feel good about America’s virtues.

It’s a fact that one of the most difficult things in the world is to know how to do something and to watch someone else doing it wrong, without commenting.

If you’ve spent any time in military, you know what I’m talking about.