Have You Voted Yet?

My father was involved in local politics when I was growing up.  I remember posting signs, knocking on doors and handing out flyers from the time I was eleven years old.  Dad was elected to two terms on the City Council before being hired as City Manager.  He ran for his final elected position, that of County Surveyor, in 1994.

He won every election he ran in – except one.  Today I want to tell you about the one he lost.

Dad was running for a position on the County School Board.  He and his opponent were both well known in the city.  Dad was City Manager; his opponent was a city police officer.  Dad campaigned well.  His opponent also campaigned well.  In the end the race was decided by three votes.

Three votes!  After Dad had conceded and put that race behind him, several of his friends confessed that, “If I had known the race would be so close I would have voted.”

Your vote counts!  Never believe – not even for a second – that it doesn’t matter whether you vote or not.  In this race, dominated by an ugliness unbecoming our great nation, it’s especially important that you vote.  Don’t like either candidate at the top?  Skip that race.  In Utah the rest of your ballot will be counted.  It says so right on the ballot.

Too late to mail in your ballot?  Drop it off at a polling place.  Or just go to the polling place and cast your vote the traditional way.  Yes, there will be lines.  Take a book.  Or just visit with all your friends and neighbors also coming out to vote.

But vote!  Your vote counts.  And your vote matters.

I Voted

Today is Election Day – one of the most important days of the year when you live in a country where you have the privilege of electing those who will represent you in government.   I voted – and my vote counts. 

I grew up in a family where voting mattered.  My father was always active in local politics.  He served several terms on the City Council of our small town, and many years later was elected County Surveyor.  But my strongest memory of his political activity was the one election he lost. 

He was running for a position on the County School Board.  He campaigned hard, but his opponent campaigned equally hard, and when the counting was done, Dad had lost by three votes.  Yes, three votes.  And after he conceded the election, many of his friends told him, “If I had known it would be this close, I’d have voted.”  Can one vote make a difference?  You bet it can.

What do negative campaigning and telemarketing have in common?  We all hate it, but they keep doing it because it works.  That said, I will be so very glad when the results are in and the negativity is over – at least until the next election.  It is my fervent prayer that our newly elected officials will reach across the aisles, both nationally and in our respective states, for the good of our great country.  God bless America.