A co-worker of mine who is a new US Citizen has decided to register to vote. Specifically she is registering so she can vote in the Presidential election.
She came from Russia and has been here about 10 years now. Growing up in the Soviet system she is used to a certain wariness regarding Politics and Government in general.
Well, she got her mail-in registration and first thing was that she was worried about putting her License ID # on the form. "What if some untrustworthy person in City Hall got a hold of it." She decided to put the last digits of her SS# instead, as if that's any different.
Then she declared that she is only voting as an anti-war vote. She doesn't like or trust either Bush or Kerry but she wants to be heard anyway. That's fine but I'm a bit confused as to who she will vote for if she dislikes both candidates. I guess it's Kerry but she could write in Mickey Mouse for all I know.
She also asked about the State elections because there was info regarding that on the form (election is in September). She clearly stated "I don't care about that." I could only counter that the local elections are just as important, if not more so, with respect to her everyday life. Her vote at the local level could give her a more significant say in how things are run. Congress, IMO, holds much of the real power in the US but she is unfamilar, ill informed and somewhat uncaring about how our Government works it seems.
In the end I give her credit for coming her, changing her life and registering to vote. At least she's taking the first step in becoming involved. Election day will probably be shocking to her since she may have to vote on local referenda questions and others she "doesn't care about" but it's good. Even if she casts her Presidential vote for our beloved Mickey she will feel empowered, I hope. With this one gesture she's doing more than the majority of born and bred Americans will do - vote.
She came from Russia and has been here about 10 years now. Growing up in the Soviet system she is used to a certain wariness regarding Politics and Government in general.
Well, she got her mail-in registration and first thing was that she was worried about putting her License ID # on the form. "What if some untrustworthy person in City Hall got a hold of it." She decided to put the last digits of her SS# instead, as if that's any different.
Then she declared that she is only voting as an anti-war vote. She doesn't like or trust either Bush or Kerry but she wants to be heard anyway. That's fine but I'm a bit confused as to who she will vote for if she dislikes both candidates. I guess it's Kerry but she could write in Mickey Mouse for all I know.
She also asked about the State elections because there was info regarding that on the form (election is in September). She clearly stated "I don't care about that." I could only counter that the local elections are just as important, if not more so, with respect to her everyday life. Her vote at the local level could give her a more significant say in how things are run. Congress, IMO, holds much of the real power in the US but she is unfamilar, ill informed and somewhat uncaring about how our Government works it seems.
In the end I give her credit for coming her, changing her life and registering to vote. At least she's taking the first step in becoming involved. Election day will probably be shocking to her since she may have to vote on local referenda questions and others she "doesn't care about" but it's good. Even if she casts her Presidential vote for our beloved Mickey she will feel empowered, I hope. With this one gesture she's doing more than the majority of born and bred Americans will do - vote.
