Wednesday, November 03, 2004

Cancelled Vote

We live in a state where the overwhelming majority of voters are Republican. We also live just outside of a small town. For those of you who don't know it, if you live in a small town you will have a much larger group of acquaintances than you would, say, in a metro area where getting to know strangers could be dangerous. We also have the dangerous ones, the only difference is we know about them before we actually meet them.
Small town politics can be, well, peculiar. You don't want to make anyone mad by talking politics, unless you know they are the type who want to talk politics to get mad. One of the old stories from this town was about a race between two men for mayor. The old attorney in town who always stopped in for coffee at the local cafe told one of the candidates, "well I was the first one to vote this morning, so when I left you were behind."
We all know each others party affilliation. Since we know who is going to win in our lopsided state, our reasons for voting are varied, but one of the most popular is voting to cancel someone elses vote.
I had told one of my fellow county board members, the only one who is vociferous about politics, that I was going to the polls to cancel his vote. He told me I was too late, his wife was going to cancel his vote. So I went on a mental search of who I could cancel. Maybe that much hated Micheal Moore, and then I thought well there must be millions of people already using him. One of my Brothers votes opposite of the trend here in Nebraska but my wife wanted to cancel his vote. So there I was, no reason to vote and headed to the polls anyway. As I parked, I saw a neighbor lady, walk in the door. We don't seem to cross paths often, but when we do it's always an enjoyable conversation. She's a very bright, well educated person. I entered the large auditorium where, in the front corner, sat the 'committee'. The six gals, three from each party, in charge of the election for our township. I didn't see anyone else. My neighbor was doubtless one of the 2 pair of jeans I saw behind the curtains. I said "Hi" to the ladies. I went in to vote. My Neighbor got done voting and as she dumped her ballot in the box, I heard her say, "is that Cliff Morrow in there?" One of the workers answered in the affirmative. "Good, I just cancelled his vote."
I don't know why I bother?

No comments: