It’s time to Vote!

When I opened my official ballot envelope for my first primary election in my new home state of Washington, I thought for a moment that I was in Florida, instead. A whole pamphlet of official “voting instructions” was included, giving me examples of just exactly how one is to fill in that little box. (On their sample ballot, I could vote for Abraham Lincoln, “Historical Party,” or Helen of Troy, “Ancient Party.”)

After I had ascertained that I was still able to fill in a box clearly, like I’d been doing ever since I took my first test (what do they think, that the voting citizens of this country never went to school?), I began marking my ballot. I voted for the state representative I talked to this summer about some bales of hay. I voted for the various candidates whose campaign signs line our alfalfa fields right next to the highway. I voted for the state supreme court justice I knew was pro-life. I left blank the un-opposed candidates from the other party (despite the temptation to put my husband’s name in the “write-in” blank). And a few I waited to talk to my husband about.

The beauty of mail-in ballots is that some of the most important decisions of this country are made around the family dinner table. Whether or not women should have ever been given the right to vote, I believe it is the role of a voting wife to vote with her husband, not against him. Like the Bible says, “two are better than one,” and that is especially true where voting is concerned.

It’s not a presidential election year, folks. But my new home state is electing justices who will decide many important cases for this state, and this country, in future years. And state Initiative 933, if the people get out and vote, will keep the government from taking our farmland without compensating us for it.

Just because the highest office in the land is not in question does not mean that we can neglect our duty and responsibility as a citizen of the United States of America. Sometimes the decisions on the local level have as much or more bearing on our future than the leaders elected nationally.

Look up your local Right to Life chapter and get their voting guide, find a local conservative Political Action Committee (PAC) and learn their endorsements. Prayerfully discuss the offices and candidates with your husband and family, so that you present a strong, unified voice when you go to the polls. Vote according to the dictates of your conscience. Then, remind your friends and family to go to the polls and make their voice heard—as long as they know how to fill in that little box clearly and completely. (If they don’t, they probably don’t know enough to be making the decisions that will impact future generations.)