Smarty Pants: My Election Exercises

note: smarty pants posts are my thoughts on current events.  click here to read more.

Let me tell you a story about my first presidential election.  I was twenty, and really wanted to take my civic responsibility seriously.  I wanted to go into the voting booth informed and prepared, down to which judges should be retained and which levies to approve.  Good intentions aside, I also tended to be a bit of a procrastinator (still am!), and my election prep fell to the wayside as other more immediate concerns (like midterms) dominated my time.

As a result, I distinctly remember sitting on my sofa cramming on the election day.  Knowing that I was running out of time, I was diligently trying to remember which amendments I supported, and which state representatives I wanted.  The problem was that I really didn't give myself enough time to actually think about the ballot issues.  And though I didn't want to just vote for candidates based on party lines, I didn't have the time to find out about them specifically.

I did make it to the polls, and I cast my votes.  But I can't say that I felt very confident in my rushed decisions.  And in the end, the whole day was so stressful that I felt sick the whole night.

Needless to say, I've since learned from my novice mistakes.  And though I find that I've still procrastinated a bit in this election cycle, there's still time to do my homework and make intentional choices.  So, over the next couple of weeks I'll be sharing the "election exercises" I'm planning to get myself prepared for the vote.

And I'd love to hear more from you!  What things have you done to prepare for November 4th?  What voting experiences have you had in the past?  Email me at shillberry@comcast.net to share, or post your comments here!

Missed yesterday's Marketplace Maven, Heather Davis?  click here to read it!