WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU VOTED??

Today, November 4, 2008, I took part in a historical Presidential election. I worked as an Election Clerk and the experience was mind-boggling. I was raised an "election-brat" because my mother, who has been a Precinct Judge until this year, taught me and my two sisters to be politically involved. We have served as election clerks since we were old enough, and I served as Precinct Judge when I lived in Austin. It is a gratifying and rewarding job to fulfill and I am grateful that I was privileged to have that as part of my upbringing. Now about election day. I have worked many elections but I have never seen so many first-time voters, elderly/handicapped voters, young hip-hop voters and people who have not voted in 4 years. It was a bitter sweet experience because those first-timers and elderly/handicapped represented the determination of a people to advocate for change; but those who had not voted in 4 years or longer were purged from the roles and could not vote. The looks on their faces were unforgettable, but it was evident that impact of that lesson was great. It saddened me to see those who have such a lackadaisical pattern of neglecting their civic duty. But what was amazing was that Barack Obama created enough excitement and hope to get them off their buts and come to the polls to vote. Speaking of that excitement, as I sit here typing, Barack Obama has just been declared the 44th President of the United States! When the announcement was made I got chill bumps! History has been made and I believe we can look forward to some positive change in the future. As for those persons that could not vote today, I made sure they got a voter registration card and filled it out so they can vote in 2012 to keep Barack in the White House!