Our Regular Voting Excursion
November 7 2023 Day 7
We’ll take a bit of a pause today as it’s voting day here in our fair town, Manchester. Among other strange positions, we’ll vote for Mayor, Alderman-at-Large, School Committee-at-Large and super localized things like Ward Councilor, etc. We have no say in our Ward Alderman because for some reason only on person is running. So, oh well.
This has been a not unpleasant tradition of mine and Little Bean’s since she was only months old. While I admit to feeling progressively more and more like my actual vote doesn’t mean a hill of beans, while I’m with her voting I at least am buttressed by a slight sense of hope.
She has a lot of questions and as as she gets older those questions become more complex. “Why doesn’t anyone want to be our Selectman?” for example. And the more she’s engaged, the more I feel like she’ll have a good head on her shoulders.
Civic engagement is important, after all. Right? Right. Anyway, get out and vote if today’s your day. See ya on the other side of the booth.
I remember going into the voting booth with my mom when I was a kid. She voted in every election, and instilled that sense of civic duty in me, too. Sometimes I’m voting For, occasionally I’m voting Against, but I always vote.
I worked as a ballot clerk on a few different election days, and I loved to see people bring their children into the polls. Whether individual votes make a difference is debatable, but having our say is a privilege too many people around the world don't have.