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My Vote Counts

Nov 4th 2008Life

My wife and I both voted today, using the traditional wait in line and then mark your ballot mode.  It was exciting to see so many people at the polls and even more exciting to walk down the halls of the office and hear a near (if not actual) unanimous “yes” when I asked “did you vote today?”  The energy in the electorate is staggering right now, regardless of who you support!

But back to my title…I’m looking at the election returns and in one Senate race, with 84% or over 1,100,000 votes counted, the spread is only 214 votes.  ONLY 214 VOTES!!!!!  Since 2000 and the hanging chads in Florida, it’s been shown to us time and time again how important every single vote is in this country.  Every time I see one of these too close to call elections, I immediately think MY VOTE COUNTS!  Every time I see a ballot initiative or amendment with a 50-50 or 51-49 tally, I immediately think MY VOTE COUNTS!  And every time I see a concession speech or a victory celebration, I pause for just a moment and think MY VOTE COUNTS!

This is an incredible country, and one very important reason is MY VOTE COUNTS!  When I think about so many other countries in this world where votes really don’t count, I smile with pride in knowing that in our great nation, MY VOTE COUNTS!  And whether my candidate wins or some other great American wins instead, MY VOTE COUNTS!

In many things in life, I get really annoyed when I don’t get my way.  But that’s not the case in national, state or local elections.  If the will of the people does not match my will as an individual, I still smile in knowing that MY VOTE COUNTS!  Through my vote, I let my position be known and I exercised my right to express my opinion on that national, state or local stage. 

There’s a lot of excitement in this country tonight because we’re soon to have a change of administration.  There’s also a lot of excitement around the world tonight because we’re soon to have a change of administration.  For me, it’s more pride than excitement, because with all the intense focus on our national elections around this world, the message every citizen of this world needs to receive is MY VOTE COUNTS.

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