Woohoo I voted!

So this was my first time voting in a presidential race...ever. I'm pretty stoked. I had to wait half an hour at the polls (which really isn't too bad comparatively, my boss waited an hour). Since I moved I got put in the 19th district, but I saw my old 18th district had no line whatsoever at the polling place, and I stared at the table in envy. Why did I have to be so accurate with my address to the government? I just moved 10 blocks!

As some of you may know, my parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles were heavily involved with NAMFREL an "election watchdog" of the Philippines as they tried to vote the dictator, Ferdinand Marcos, out of office (eventually failing to, and so goes the EDSA Revolution that they also participated in when I was a wee baby). My mom would tell me of the corruption she witnessed as people outright just replaced the ballot boxes. I think of that, and I just start feeling so grateful that I can even vote in a transparent system. That if I report something, I know I won't be arrested. Despite all the hullabaloo about voter registration wrong doing recently in the U.S., really it does not compare.

This also reminds me of when my mom was becoming a citizen (last year) and she found out about the Electoral College. She was so mad, I can't even explain it fully. She couldn't understand why every vote can't just count the way it does in the Philippines. Well, I said, I guess you can blame it on elitism.

As you can guess, all this family/national history informs a lot of my political thinking and makes voting and my rights have a certain flavor to it, since not just my ancestors but my immediate family has sacrificed for me to have these rights both here and in my nation of origin (if you ever meet my parents, ask about the time they ran away from tanks throwing tear gas at people, it's actually funny; they're jolly people in general, so they make light of most experiences they had at that time). I grew up with the romanticized idea that people power can legitimately change the world.

So don't be an ingrate and go VOTE! And I agree with Ian, you don't get to complain if you don't vote.