I Just Voted

With thanks to election workers all over the country

Dear Friends,

I told Jean the other day that I hadn’t voted yet, and she was astonished.

We’ve gotten used to the calls for early voting, and she forgot that until 2020 we had both simply voted on election day. I have always loved the ritual of it, walking up to the school or auditorium or community center, standing in line, meeting the election workers for my precinct, watching them find my name in the rolls, then being handed my ballot. I would go into the booth, close the curtain behind me and carefully add my voice to the decisions being made that day. It was a quiet, solemn, meaningful communal event.

Perhaps the best part of that ritual was meeting the election workers. There they were behind those folding tables, cheerfully moving everything along. There were always so many of them! Every time I have voted there have been a dozen or more people just at my little neighborhood precinct, volunteering their time to quietly help our democracy function. I have voted in Washington DC, Maryland, Los Angeles and Santa Cruz, and it was similar everywhere.

It was often retirees behind those tables, friendly folks, and what we all wanted on voter day was turn-out. I would ask them how it was going. Even though I felt strongly about my candidate, as I stood in line on those election days I was not looking around wondering if the person ahead of me was voting for or against my chosen candidate. I was simply glad they were there, that we were all there standing in line and being part of this amazing community ritual.

And it was good to wear my “I Voted!” sticker at work or school or wherever I was going that day. I did feel special, in my private booth at the community center, being a part of deciding if my local city or county would hold a bond to raise funds for the library or for schools, or to fund firefighters, or on housing measures, or public facilities, sales or real estate taxes, or roads projects.

I grew up in an old-school Democratic family, and as an adult moved further to the left as a feminist progressive. I railed against the patriarchal political system, saw the many ways that it was cracked and broken, all that was bought and sold in the political arena, the corporate powers pulling the levers behind so much. I wasn't wrong, and yet in every election I always voted. I was moved to see all those local decisions being made by local voters in counties and cities all over the country, all those election workers, all those individual ballots, the ritual beauty of it. I saw some local and state governments sincerely trying to make life better for their area, proposing this or that project or program or tax, and then turning to us to make a decision upon it. It really is astonishing: the idea that we can collectively govern ourselves. It’s uneven, yet far better than the other alternatives humanity has found so far, such as a monarchy or a dictatorship.

In 2020, filling out my ballot at home and dropping it off at a local voting dropbox made sense. We were in the midst of the pandemic, and I was grateful we had a system that made it possible to safely vote. There was a big increase in turnout that year, as more counties adopted mail-in voting because of the pandemic, and then found how much it increased the ability of the average voter to be able to participate.

This year we were all regularly urged to vote early, and I always assumed I would. I'm not sure what made me wait till the day before election day to complete my ballot. I dropped it off a few hours ago at our local voting dropbox. And it felt great.

How wonderful to vote for a woman of color for President of the United States! And to feel the hope that Kamala Harris will soon be leading our country. I appreciate many of the changes she wants to bring to the U.S., and am thrilled about the new tone she will bring, a change in generational leadership, and a move away from the politics of petty personal attacks. I am excited about the child care tax credit for families such as my own daughters with young children, and also the plan for Social Security to cover in-home care for elders, including Jean and me if needed as we age. Harris’s proposal to assist with purchasing a home is terrific, as well as banning assault weapons, raising the minimum wage, and environmental awareness in fighting the climate disaster. Not to mention the obvious imperative that women have the freedom to make decisions about their own bodies.

I am personally disappointed in Harris’s support of U.S. funding for the horrendous continuing Israeli military destruction of the people of Gaza. Harris has called for a cease-fire, but she was not definite or outspoken. On this I think of my vote more like a chess move than an endorsement. The Democrats hold by far more support for the Palestinian cause, with serious calls for a permanent ceasefire and changing US funding of Netanyahu’s war. There is little to zero support for this in the Republican party.

It did feel great to vote today, to fill out the ballot, to take my little picture above, and to put it in the voting dropbox. But if you are reading this on Tuesday morning and haven't voted yet, congratulations! It is election day and you can go to your local polling place and see the volunteer workers making it possible for us to weigh in on big and small issues throughout our huge country. You can walk into the little booth, fill out your ballot, and vote. (If needed, you can find your voting place here.)

Or you can fill out your mail-in ballot and put it in the mailbox or voter drop box by the end of today. It is a jewel, this ritual of voting,

Obviously, I want the US to have a new tone in our leadership and not a return to the ugliness of the past, and I hope you will vote for Kamala Harris. But most importantly, I hope you will vote. And if you know someone who may have forgotten to vote, or may need help to get to the voting place, reach out to them if you can. Today is a big day.

Blessings and gratitude for the thousands upon thousands of election workers all throughout the United States. This year, as we all know, they are under great pressure given outrageous Republican falsehoods about the accuracy of the 2020 election. May they be entirely whole and safe today, and may our prayers surround them.

Blessings for this season of Samhain, which in the Celtic tradition is the cross quarter day between the fall equinox and the winter solstice. We have now entered the rich, introspective dark half of the year.

May you be fed and held in all that matters to you deep in your soul.

Carolyn