By Tammy Hale
We are born with a God-given gift of free will, an innate desire to be free, and we live in America, where we are blessed with the freedom to choose.
My one-year-old granddaughter, Joanna, knows that longing to be free. However, even at her young age, she understands that in her desire for freedom, there are choices to be made.
Choices like:
“Hmm… I can get my shoes, put them on and go outside. Or I can stand here at the door with my arms crossed and do nothing because the sun isn’t shining bright enough and the day isn’t quite perfect.”
So she waits.
And that, too, becomes a choice.
While she waits, the day keeps moving forward.
Sadly, she realizes she really did want to go run free, even if it wasn’t a perfect day. But that time has passed. It is now time for lunch and a nap.
The day did not have to be perfect for her choice to matter.
Her decision to do nothing did not mean there was no consequence. The consequence came from the absence of choice.
On November 3rd, many of us get to make a choice. Or not.
Living in America gives us many freedoms, but voting is a privilege that gives us a voice.
The question is, what do we do with that right? What does our future look like if we stop exercising it?
As our Supervisor of Elections, Lisa Darus, put it, “Voting is more than filling in ovals on a ballot. It is an opportunity that generations before us fought to protect and one that we should never take for granted.”
There’s a good possibility we may never see a candidate who is perfectly aligned with our thoughts and beliefs.
Like Joanna waiting for everything to be perfect, that alignment may never come.
But keep in mind, generations before us didn’t fight for perfect parties or perfect candidates. They fought for an imperfect people to have a voice, the right to choose, and an opportunity for those same imperfect people to step forward and serve.
Your vote matters. Exercise that right. If getting to the polls on Election Day is difficult or burdensome, there are other ways to make your voice heard. You can request a vote-by-mail ballot by October 22, or vote early October 24 through October 31 at the Gilchrist County Courthouse in Trenton, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., with Sunday, October 25, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
On Election Day, November 3, polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and voters will cast their ballots at their precinct.
If you need help requesting a vote-by-mail ballot or have other voting questions, contact the Gilchrist County Supervisor of Elections office at 352-463-3194 or elections@gilchrist.fl.us, or stop by 112 S. Main Street, Room 137, in Trenton.
As Lisa put it, “November 3 will come and go, but the decisions made on that ballot will remain long after Election Day.”
November 4th arrives regardless of our choice or absence of it.
We remain We the People, one nation under God.
The parties… imperfect. The candidates… imperfect. We the people… imperfect.
But falling short of perfection doesn’t have to leave us standing at the door.
We can put our shoes on.
That’s what’s good.