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Nov. 3rd, 2008 09:09 pmI think I've already said somewhere that voting, to me, is a Big Thing. This dates back to 1981, the year Mitterrand was elected and I was still too young to vote. So yes, I celebrated Mitterrand's victory with my family and our friends, but to me the victory was a little bitter, because I felt that having not taken part in the election process, I had no right to celebrate with the Voting Grownups.
I suppose that this is one of the reasons why voting is so important to me.
Anyways: since then, I have never missed an election. I've had to overcome a few hurdles to be able to exercise my right to vote: I've travelled 650 miles, several times, to go vote in my hometown in Alsace; I've stood in line for three hours, in three different consecutive lineups, with two small AND HUNGRY children; I've lied to the Human Resource department of the company I used to work for (long story).
I have had three different citizenships in my life, and yet I have voted in only two countries.
So there is indeed one country in which I never voted. Unlike the citizens of that country, who always voted massively. The participation was over 99%, every single time. But see, the point is, everyone voted for the same candidate. Because hey, there was only one candidate.
I don't know how the authorities convinced people to go vote: did they coax you gently? Remind you that it was time to vote? Did they pick you up where you worked, and drive you there? Threaten to have you demoted, fired, humiliated if you didn't go? I don't know. But it was real enough to obtain a 99% participation in phony elections. For what is an election worth if you don't have a choice?
The country was East Germany, the GDR, that ceased to exist as such in 1990. I was a`citizen of the GDR, and I suppose that I could have voted there if I had wanted to. But considering the circumstances, I was the lucky one, because unlike the others, I didn't have to participate in that farce.
I guess that this is another reason why voting is so important to me: because in a Democracy, this is when I get to say something, speak up, say who I want as a leader. And I know first hand that not everyone is given that chance.
So -- yeah, please vote. Please go and vote. This is your time to speak up. It sucks to stay in line for hours, I know, but it's entirely worth it.
And if on top of that you could vote for my favourite candidate, that would be the cherry on the cake, really
I suppose that this is one of the reasons why voting is so important to me.
Anyways: since then, I have never missed an election. I've had to overcome a few hurdles to be able to exercise my right to vote: I've travelled 650 miles, several times, to go vote in my hometown in Alsace; I've stood in line for three hours, in three different consecutive lineups, with two small AND HUNGRY children; I've lied to the Human Resource department of the company I used to work for (long story).
I have had three different citizenships in my life, and yet I have voted in only two countries.
So there is indeed one country in which I never voted. Unlike the citizens of that country, who always voted massively. The participation was over 99%, every single time. But see, the point is, everyone voted for the same candidate. Because hey, there was only one candidate.
I don't know how the authorities convinced people to go vote: did they coax you gently? Remind you that it was time to vote? Did they pick you up where you worked, and drive you there? Threaten to have you demoted, fired, humiliated if you didn't go? I don't know. But it was real enough to obtain a 99% participation in phony elections. For what is an election worth if you don't have a choice?
The country was East Germany, the GDR, that ceased to exist as such in 1990. I was a`citizen of the GDR, and I suppose that I could have voted there if I had wanted to. But considering the circumstances, I was the lucky one, because unlike the others, I didn't have to participate in that farce.
I guess that this is another reason why voting is so important to me: because in a Democracy, this is when I get to say something, speak up, say who I want as a leader. And I know first hand that not everyone is given that chance.
So -- yeah, please vote. Please go and vote. This is your time to speak up. It sucks to stay in line for hours, I know, but it's entirely worth it.
And if on top of that you could vote for my favourite candidate, that would be the cherry on the cake, really
