Faith Through the Journey

After the recent elections, there has been much discussion about why some candidates won and others lost. Having been part of over 16,000 voters’ ballots being cast firsthand, I saw a very diverse group of American citizens. I was both encouraged and disheartened as I watched people participate in the process. There were older voters who were very anxious to express their opinions at the ballot box; businessmen and women who have been hurt by governmental overreach; young people who were excited to have their first voting experience; minorities who wanted their voices to be heard; and even a couple of celebrities! Those who came earliest in early voting seemed to have the strongest opinions about candidates or issues, or perhaps they were just well sick of all the robo-calls!

When people show up at the polls to express their opinions, they are participating in an important and uniquely American process. It is often said that if you don’t vote, you have no right to complain when decisions with which you disagree are made. However, I must say there are some voters who I would almost prefer NOT participate! I heard more times than I cared to that the voter “hadn’t voted since the last election”. When I asked them if they meant the one we had in July, they gave me a strange look and wondered what I was talking about! As the days (and election day itself) wore on, the less informed voters began to appear. These were the ones who came out once every four years to vote on basically one office, and their ignorance about everything from their own registration to who was running  became painfully evident. Unfortunately, looking into their faces was very discouraging and disheartening to me. I could see they had absolutely no idea what they were doing, and yet they were making one of the most national decisions there is. The only preparation they made to vote was to show up where they thought they might be registered! I was trying to find “lost voters” after the polls had officially closed! When uninformed people vote, they perpetrate the consequences of bad decisions upon everyone else. That is the height of irresponsibility and selfishness. Unfortunately, it is the right of all Americans who meet the qualifications of voting–age, registration, residence–to exercise that right in decision-making for many important issues. When people vote ignorantly or emotionally, they cause the rest of the population to lose out on well-chosen candidates or issues that can have far-reaching consequences, possibly for generations to come.

It is a tragedy that one of the most important rights, one our Founding Fathers prized above many others, the right to vote, has been so irresponsibly exercised by so many citizens. It would be far better for the country if they either did a little homework or just admitted they didn’t know what they were doing and stay home. That probably sounds harsh, but I think many will agree that uninformed choices can end up being dangerous to the vast majority of their fellow citizens. Please, America, THINK before you vote!!