My Primary Tuesday: Anya

While Ashley was off enjoying her newfound power to vote, I assigned myself a more difficult task: convincing our friend “Politics is the stupidest thing on the planet” Taya that she needed to register to vote -- preferably, to vote for the candidate I liked.  So I found her on AIM:



Anya: http://www.barbaraboxer.com/home
PLEASE CONSIDER VOTING FOR HER IN NOVEMBER
for me
consider it my vote
Taya:  I'm not voting...
Anya:  not even for me??????
Taya:  Sorry.
I don't want to register to vote if I don't know what I'm voting for.
Anya:  so read her website a little
or let me tell you
Taya:  I don't like politics...
Anya:  yeah but ........ she's your senator too!
Taya:  I know...
Anya:  don't you care about your LIFE?
Taya:  Of course I care about my life.
Anya:  well, who your senator is directly impacts your life
taxes, education, air quality, etc
Taya:  How?
Anya:  well without some of boxer's legislation the bush administration would’ve weakened the power the epa & groups like that would have to regulate the amount of arsenic in drinking water
don't you like not being poisoned?
Taya:  Jesus Christ, okay, I'll vote.
How do I register? >>
Anya:  I AM SO PROUD OF YOU
here you go : https://www.sos.ca.gov/nvrc/fedform/
Taya:  Yeah, yeah, whatever.

So, all right, maybe she just agreed to register because I’ve been hounding her about this since the 2008 election, way before she ever turned 18.  But now, I can say proudly that she is a registered Libertarian (well, once I cleared up the whole ‘yes, sweetie, Libertarians can vote for Democrats’ thing).  While I may not be old enough to vote, I convinced someone else to vote.  In my own small way, I helped further democracy . . . that is so cool to say! :)  Happy election night!

My Primary Tuesday: Ashley

I had a very eventful last Tuesday mainly because I was able to finally exercise my right to vote and wow did it feel good.

My voting experience was very simple on the actual day:

step 1: drive to polling place

step 2: check in and get ballot

step 3: mark ballot at correct table (CA has closed primaries so Republicans can only vote for Republicans and vice versa)

step 4: cast my vote and receive an "I Voted" sticker

step 5: walk out of the polling place proclaiming, "it was my first time" to the world with a giddy laugh and a smirk

A thing I found very funny about my particular voting experience was the amount of Republicans my district is lacking. Maybe it was just the time I went, but there weren't any Republicans voting when I was there. I walked in and there was a line for the Democratic tables and I just strolled over to the many open Republican tables and marked my ballot. I told this to Anya and she proudly pronounced (ohhhh...alliteration), "Sweetie, it's California, what did you expect?"

Although it seemed easy the day I went to cast my vote, there was some preparation for it. I had to register to vote which I did online. Once you do this, before an election it's smart to check to see if you really are registered. Sometimes they have problems with your registration and you just call them to clear it up. You should also receive a book in the mail with all the candidates running and on the back it has your polling place on it as well. It is wise to mark your book before you go to vote and then you can take some time and research the candidates, the measures, etc. so you make an informed decision (that's what I tried to do).

I know I may seem like the voting police or something, but if you are able to vote I really encourage you to. Voting ensures we have a government that follows America's ideals. It is a fundamental process to keep up democracy. We are so lucky and privileged we can vote for people and have influence over who's in power. So use your power and go register!