voting makes me cry

[lobelia321]

There are three things that will unfailingly bring tears to my eyes:

a) World Cup goals for an African nation
b) Olympic medals for athletes struggling with tears as their anthem plays
c) polling booths.

I just love democracy. And I just love voting day. I went to my polling station today, and there were knots of people streaming in: families with children and several couples holding hands! Oh, the cuteness of it. And I love those small, elderly, geeky people who sit so earnestly at their battered tables and take your polling card and very seriously strike you off a list and hand you the voting slip.

But I was only allowed to vote on the lilac slip! For the local council elections! Waah. Am lowly second-class EU citizen. T'h, otoh, could vote nationally because he is Commonwealth. Bloody Empire.

Still, my heart soared and my tears welled as I exited the church hall where all this took place. I am so moved by it. By the nuts and bolts of democracy, when the politicians get to shut up for one day and the way there are no party posters or signs at the polling station, it's just democracy pure.

Will I stay up all night to watch the result? Well, tomorrow I must hie me to London to renew my passport so possibly not. Also off to have lunch with a friend in Soho and to do research on D/D.

I forgot schmaltzy films. They will make me weep, too. Spielberg, Karan Johar: never fails.

Comments

[travelingcarrot.livejournal.com]

Same here. Though it isn't just any kind of democracy - the US type does nothing for me at all. It's the bare-church-hall-with-old-ladies-in-hats-and-notices-on-white-paper-and-cross-in-pencil-on-a-tiny-piece-of-paper-and-tellers-outside-the-door-and-Jon-Snow-on-the-BBC-later that warms the cockles of my heart.

P.S. Am jealous you got lilac local election forms. Up here we got Buff.

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

I don't know what the US elections are like once you get away from the party rally hoo-ha and the media circus and into the actual polling booths. Maybe they have the same little old ladies and men doing their stamping and sorting?? I've not been in the States during a vote, I just see it on TV.

You got buff? I like buff! But best of all I like white! I want to vote national, waah. I will institute proceedings to find out how I can do it next time round.

[sheldrake.livejournal.com]

I love that polling stations are so sort of ... home-made. There was one on the local news last night that was in someone's bedroom! The booths were next to the stereo. :) Ours was rather conveniently located in the Gospel Hall halfway down our road.

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Gospel halls! Gyms! Church halls! But bedrooms?! That's a new one. Was this on one of those islands? What a hoot.

[sophrosyne31.livejournal.com]

i know just how you feel. i get all full, at polling booths, of a sense of community and people and sharedness and wonder. then my country usually votes a bunch of criminals back into power and i lose my sense of communalism rather abruptly. but it's nice to feel it once every four years, hey.

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Your country's Australia, right?

Well, in the polling station there's still that sense of hope because you don't know the results yet. Also, the weepy feeling once every four years followed by the comedown about stupid idiot fellow voters is still miles and miles better than not having it at all!! Evenif they vote in criminals, I still love it.

[sophrosyne31.livejournal.com]

yup. our bloke (who won the election for the evil people here) has just been in england advising the tories how to win, based on the wonderful political philosophy of 'never surrendah, never admit, never doubt, never ever apologise' that's done our lot so well. oh frabjous day, he failed in the uk. but, er, there's not necessarily a lot of difference, is there?

but you're so right about the fleeting hope. THAT's the precious thing. and god, it's not like we're not lucky to have that. and i'm rather fond of you for having observed it.

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Our bloke.. you're in Australia, right?

[sophrosyne31.livejournal.com]

australia *blushes* yes, of course. argh politics it's all rubbish. *finds a barricade to mount*

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

:-)

[brightest-blue.livejournal.com]

I get all teary-eyed, too, although in Oregon we vote by mail so there aren't many polling booths anymore. But I saw a few last November with new citizens who came from countries where they'd never been able to vote in a free election and I got all sentimental on their behalf.

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

No more polling booths? *gasps in shock*

[brightest-blue.livejournal.com]

Nope. We are the progressive state that always has to do things a little differently. We get our ballots in the mail a few weeks before the election, along with a massive, usually 2-volume voters "pamphlet" that allows the candidates to post pictures of themselves and their platform, and spells out each ballot measure in great detail. Then everyone in favor or against can purchase space to make their arguments.And there are always many, many ballot measures. Our state legislature is just about completely inneffective, the governor is mostly a figurehead, and gosh darn it, someone's got to rein in those judges who let gays get married. This is what it looked like last November. So a vast amount of significant legislation is put on the books by the voters themselves. Direct democracy in action.

It is nice to be able to sit at the kitchen table, pore over everything right there and mark off the votes. Otherwise I'd have to write it all down and take it to the polling station with me. I usually don't even mail it in- there are drop boxes at every library and on election day, election workers standing in the street in front of the courthouse, so you barely have to stop to drop off your ballot. And you can vote weeks before election day, so then you can just tune out all of the political stuff once you're done.