The Right to Vote

I actually had a completely different blog written and ready to post about Adoption Awareness and then realized what a huge day today is for America.  The right to vote is so important to our nation and to us as individuals to be able to voice our opinion on who our leaders will be.  There are many places in this world where this right either does not exist or is so diluted by corruption that it is nothing more than an exercise in futility for the people who participate.  We are so blessed to live in a country where, regardless if we like the outcome, we can take part in the process.  I do not believe (and you may or may not agree with me on this) that our right to vote is our greatest right as American citizens.  I believe our right to worship freely, our right to free speech, and our right to a fair trial are our 3 greatest rights, but I also understand that our right to vote helps us to continually elect leaders that will keep America free.

I actually just left the voting booth about 20 minutes prior to writing this blog.  If you know me, you may or may not know where I stand politically or where I stand on this presidential race (and if you did you would probably be upset with me some way or another).  The truth is, I only share these things with those closest to me because I know how quickly people can be turned off and offended when someone does not agree with them politically.  I am not sure why politics brings out the worst in people so often, but I do know that they do.  So I am not writing this blog to tell you who to vote for (it is very likely too late for that anyway).  I am simply writing this blog because of how blessed we are as Americans to be able to go to the polls and make our voices heard.  To have a say in the political process and the right to get as involved in politics as we desire.  No matter who you like or dislike in this campaign, make your voice heard some way or another.

In Haiti, people have the right to vote.  There are polling stations throughout the country and they actually hold their votes on Sunday when everyone is off of work anyway.  The problem is that elections in Haiti were supposed to be last October for what amounts to the primaries followed by the final election on my birthday…December 27.  This did not happen.  In fact, as of today, fully one year after the elections were supposed to take place, there is no elected President in Haiti.  The former President stepped down last February leaving a vacuum of power that was filled as the Senate voted for a provisional President who had until June to arrange for new elections before he was supposed to step down.  He is still in power now after deciding that he did not want to step down without a successor in place.  An unelected leader of a nation that is supposed to have an elected President, can you imagine that?  America is blessed.  Perfect?  Absolutely not!  But we are blessed to live in the freedom that we have today.  Let’s all take advantage of this right, this responsibility, and make our voices heard in the political process of the nation that GOD has so richly blessed us to be a part of!