Ballot or Bust

The first year I was eligible to vote was 2000. I had just started college and had heard about absentee voting. It would allow me to cast my ballot without having to drive an hour home. I have voted with this method every other year since then, but a change might be coming.

With absentee voting, I can simply fill out my choices in the comfort of my own home. If a choice comes up I didn't except, then I look up the needed information to make an informed vote. In school, I always told someone what to write for my test answers. It was much faster than trying to write myself in the allotted time. I can imagine voting in person would be the same, and doesn't exactly sound very private.

This year, most people have likely heard about the different voting options. In order to decrease crowds at voting booths, an option of mail-in ballots are being offered, as well as absentee voting. However, an increasing number of reports are saying that many mail-in ballots are being discarded, especially if they are for a certain candidate.

As usual, I requested my absentee ballot and mailed my completed form with the needed information. A few weeks later, an envelope arrived saying it was ballot information, but about 25% of it had been torn up. It was in a bag from the post office saying they care about our mail.

Throughout my life, I have received a fair amount of mail; insurance information, birthday cards, bills, junk mail, and everything else have arrived safely. Of all the letters to get eaten by a mail sorting machine, why was it this one? Looking closer, I could see it was a generic address that could go to any resident at my house. The chewed up envelope was for the problematic mail-in ballot request and not my absentee ballot, I think.

I filled out another request form, but I'll wait and see what I get. As I wrote two weeks ago, this is another critical election that may have major consequences. In order to make sure my vote is taken, and accurately recorded, I may venture into in-person voting this year. That in itself could be an adventure, but so is much of the quad life.

Lately, I have concluded many of these entries with relying on God and His control. This is another occasion of the same, as is every part of life.