Our country is built upon the ideals of a representative democracy. Our right to vote is often touted, even if not always revered. Voting is indeed a right, namely ”something to which one has a just claim” as defined by Merriam Webster, but it is also a duty. On March 27th, we will be invited to exercise that right, our duty, in our annual town election. There will be two ballot questions, eleven positions on town committees and boards, and positions for Town Meeting representing all eight precincts. Ballots can be previewed here: https://www.winchester.us/433/Annual-Town-Election---March-27-2018
When I was a little girl, there was nothing I loved more than going to the voting booth with my parents. There were lines of metal levers, little ones for voting and a big one for opening and closing the curtain. I didn’t realize then that my parents weren’t just bringing me just to have fun pulling the lever to open the curtain. They were demonstrating the importance of voting to me; introducing me to what it means to show up and be counted; teaching me that voting is “what you do”; modelling for me that my vote would count as much as anyone else’s. As soon as I turned 18, I couldn’t wait to get to the voting booth on my own. Today, while I am always somewhat nostalgic for the little levers, I’m just as proud to fill in the little bubbles as I was on that first November day more than two decades ago. These days, I bring my daughters with me to the voting booth. What I hope they are learning is that every vote counts and that the world is run by those who show up, as the saying goes. Last March, fewer than one third of Winchester’s approximately 15,000 registered voters chose to be counted, to exercise their right to vote in our town’s local election.
I urge you, my neighbors, to get out and cast your votes on March 27. Bring your children Offer rides to neighbors who cannot get out on their own. Submit absentee ballots if work or vacation will keep you away (by noon on March 26th). It’s March. It’s snowy still. It’s a week day. Despite all that, it is also election day, a sacred moment in any democracy’s life cycle. Voting is indeed a right, but it is also our duty and civic duty begins at home. I urge you to have your voice heard and to show our children we are an engaged and committed civic community. Please vote.
