I Voted Today!

Is Voting a Right or an Obligation?

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 36 seconds

“Would you like a sticker?” the poll worker asked. As she handed me the sticker, I placed it on my jacket, feeling proud and connected to the voting process. She asked me to tell everyone there was no line. I pointed out that I was the first to vote even though the polls had been open for twenty minutes. We chatted for a moment or two, sharing our hopes for the upcoming elections. Hopefully, the lines will be longer in November, I mentioned to her when I started to leave. The poll worker responded that it was a bet she would take. Not being a gambler, I agreed with her, feeling a sense of anticipation for the next time I would vote in the Lower Auditorium of Cranford High School.

Why did I have to vote on a Wednesday in the middle of September? My congressman, Donald Payne, Jr., passed away in April—the photograph of Congressman Payne, Jr. and my friend Arnold Cohen at the Congressional Reception in Washington, DC, July 16, 2016. The annual Reception was a project I worked on with hundreds of people at Monarch Housing.

New Jersey scheduled the primary in July. Today, less than seven weeks before the presidential and general elections for this position, I hear from neighbors and friends that we have to vote too often, and they are overwhelmed. I am concerned that too many opt out of voting due to the overload.

I have always believed voting is a right and an obligation of citizenship. In all my long years, I have only missed casting a ballot on one day. In 1993, the day before an election for members of the town’s school board, I had been in an accident that dislocated my thumb and totaled the car I was driving. At first, the medical team was concerned I might have broken my spine.

While waiting for my wife and the doctors to decide how seriously injured I was, a nurse tried to take off my wedding ring, which, after eighteen years, had become permanently attached to my finger. I wept because I was afraid the nurse might misplace it. My wife entered the room and put the ring in her purse once the ring was off. Squeezing her hand, I said, “I have never had my ring off my finger. Will you still love me?”

Her answer should be evident to anyone reading my amateur posts. I loved her thoroughly, and I never doubted she loved me.  In addition, between the pain and the medication, the next day, an election day, I stayed home. As much as I would like to say, I remembered there was an election, but that is untrue. Since my ringless day, I have never missed an election, regardless of the day or the positions on the ballot. I could vote by mail or early in person at my age. I choose not to, as I enjoy the small talk with the Poll Workers and like to know how many people have voted when I arrive. Will I be the first to vote in November in my precinct?