IMAGINE IT!

VOTING?

No matter your religious, racial, ethnic or philosophical beliefs and lifestyle, ancestors or your group, even Native Americans, have fought to save the nation.

Now that is something, given all the talk that so many of us do not deserve the gifts and responsibilities of our country for one viewpoint or another. And yes, many pacifist served during wartime as medics. They were the first to be called when you got hit and sometimes died on their way to you or your father, or grandfather.

Imagine that a headache, or that apathy, or ambivalence, or lack of desire or motivation for whatever reason, has some of us sit out our chances to have a say. To vote, even if it is to help move the nation one molecule towards where we feel it should be. Many lives were and are being lost, just to give each of us that chance, and we seem to be losing it.

We better make sure voting counts and leaves a trail to reality and not manipulation.

Imagine. There are traditional interest that hope for low voter turnout; some hope rural voters don’t turn out and others that city voters stay home. In recent elections, we have votes unverifiable, some interest interested in stopping those living here, in a democracy, from voting.

At the local level, some bond and other special issues that do not pass during “major” elections, are passed on off prime time elections, because they rely on the low turnout, presumably the bond issues supporters getting their say in. I sometimes am for these issues, but that does not make the low turnout right!

WE TRUSTED YOU WERE NOT COMING!

How can it even be that when you go to vote there are not enough machines or ballots? Imagine, that is not likely just an oversight. One party or interest is benefiting from the turn away by frustration, or questionable provisional ballots. Is this what we have let democracy devolve into? I have seen ballots of mine in the past, where there is not a straight line to the candidates box or oval. How can that be? You still might have to double check just to be kinda certain the mark is at your choice.

Does it cost too much in ink to have a line go to the right spot? Imagine, that is no accident, unless we are being ruled by complete idiots and fools. Oops! Wrong suggestion! One thing one can always count on when it comes to tripping elections; opportunist are clever and often manipulate below the radar.

BUT IT IS SUCH A BOTHER!

Imagine it! “I’m not going to stand in line to vote for any of these jerks!” Or. “I just got my hair done and am not going out in the rain! It would make it curl!” I hope we cannot imagine these things as reasons to let predators take over the leftovers of our Democracy, picking over the lives of all who gave their all for our privilege to be here and have a say.

Take your chance. Say it! Don’t imagine it. Or that is what we will be left with–an imaginary democracy.