As I sit back and watch the election of 2012 take shape, I am reminded once again how so many people who are eligible to vote give up their vote.  In today’s election, we will watch as less than 60% of the registered voters (which is less than 80% of the voting aged people) will show up and cast a vote.  So many people stood up to give everyone the “right” to vote and now people are throwing that right, that privilege, and that responsibility away.

I have heard people say, “my vote doesn’t really matter” or “I don’t know about the issues” or “things won’t change” but by not voting, people are showing they don’t care.Two years ago, I had the opportunity to serve as an election judge in an “off-year” election and witnessed individuals who took the election seriously.  I wrote about this experience (which you can read below or by clicking here) and how one trucker drove over 6 hours to get home to vote.

If this trucker found significance in voting why can’t the other 40% of people registered to vote?

Yesterday, I had the privilege of working as an election judge.  This is something which always fascinated me and I really wanted to find out what it entailed.  Too often, I had heard that election judges were “old,” “retired,” “cranky” and “slow.”  I knew that my grandfather had served as an election judge for many years and found a sense of pride in working the polling booths.  So when I received the letter in early August asking if I was still interested in being an election judge, I thought this would be a great way to honor my grandfather’s memory and one of his passions.  (He passed away in January, three days after we celebrated his 90th birthday with him.)

About two weeks ago, I attended a training where I met 75 other people who were going to serve as judges.  There were people of all ages as the county I live in wanted to make an effort of reaching out to high school students and give them a sense of ownership over the election process.  While the training was pretty boring and I walked out thinking, “what did I sign myself up for,” I also knew that I had to follow through.So yesterday morning, I arrived at the polling place at 6 a.m. to help set up the polls.  I was greeted by three individuals, Bill, Don and Maria who all lived in the same townhouse complex.  Two of them had served as judges in the past and had great stories to tell about how things have changed since they first started serving as judges.  One of them said, “you can call me Judge Cook, today,” which helped break the ice.

As the polls opened at 7 a.m., I knew it was going to be a long day when we didn’t see our first voter for 30 minutes.  Over the next 7.5 hours, we only had a total of 30 voters and I was beginning to be cynical about how much money the county was wasting by having us work the polls with so little votes (yes, election judges do get paid!)  As we entered the last four hours, I began watching as people who worked all day had made the effort to rush over and vote.

A daughter walked into the poll with her mom grinning from ear to ear as she took pictures of this eighteen year olds’ first time voting.  A son with down syndrome voted for the first time with his dad by his side.  A dad voted and then went out to his car so his wife could come in while the children slept in the car.  A mom brought her infant and daughter into the polling booth knowing that she was teaching a life lesson to her daughter.  A father whispered his selections to his first grader so he could press the buttons.

And then finally, there was a man who came in with his trucker uniform on.  He smiled as he signed the pollbook and said, “just trucked across Nebraska to get here in time to vote today.”  This sent chills down my neck as I realized that people really do take voting seriously.  Yes, not all their candidates won but they feel honored and obligated to use their vote.  What other time brings people of all backgrounds and beliefs into one place to “share” their opinions?Democrats waiting in line behind republicans.  Young people waiting in line with the elderly.  Diversity is welcome in the polling place.

As Jon Stewart said in his Rally to Restore Sanity, “You go, then I go.”  Just like when we are driving our cars, we have the decency to let cars in when we need to merge, people at the polling places set aside their differences and for one moment in time, they are equal.

Let’s remember, “You Go, Then I Go.”