Our local newspaper just featured a story about our county’s bellwether status. For those who don’t know: that means we’ve predicted who will be elected president since the year 1888—with two exceptions. Now, they say that’s going to change if we go for Trump. That doesn’t really bother me so much as the rest of the article. The author says that 41% of both republicans and democrats vote straight tickets. This leaves only a small amount of unpredictable votes. It boggles the mind. Why would you vote straight ticket in a small city?
Voting is different in a big city metropolis. I was first eligible to vote when I moved to Chicago after college. I’m sure I voted straight ticket because I didn’t know any of the people on the ballot. I was just voting for the party of my parents. Honestly, I didn’t give it a whole lot of thought. Year later, I moved to Miami and voted the same way. I had never met any of the candidates and their names meant nothing to me Again, the safe bet was to vote straight ticket.
Now, I’ve lived in this county where I vote for the past 50 years. I have known, met, or , interacted with almost every local candidate. I can’t imagine voting against a person I admire or respect based on their political affiliations. Conversely, why would I vote for someone I don’t like, just because they belong to the party of my choice?
We voted early this year, on the second day the polls opened. It was a little more crowded than usual , but no lines at all. We got right in. When the poll worker came to instruct me , she opened to the first page, stopped, and looked at me. It was obvious she expected someone my age to vote straight ticket, which would make the whole process a whole lot easier. When I told her I wanted to split my ticket, she seemed nonplussed. But she did her job, and told me to turn the page. Then she left me to my private decisions.