When you voted for the very first time, what was your immediate feeling?

[bcla]

Felt a little bit strange, but I wasn't necessarily nervous. It didn't seem like it was anything that I should be nervous about, but it felt like I was going through an important rite of passage.

It was also at my old elementary school, and I hadn't been inside for at least a decade.

 

[Ms.Minnie]

I don't remember exactly how I felt, I just knew it was something I needed to do. I have always thought that if I didn't vote I had no right to complain about what was going on in my local, state and countries government.

I was first eligible to vote in the 1976 primary, but I was away at college and forgot to request an absentee ballot. I went home to vote in November 76. I don't recall any specific feelings, but I did like those mechanical voting booths with the levers and drapes and clicking sounds.

In 2000, those "hanging chads" in Florida were a surprise, more like a shock. I couldn't believe that some places still had paper ballots.

OK, maybe in rural Nebraska, but in Palm Beach County, Florida???

Well apparently they still have paper ballots even now. I think it's kind of crazy that there are still areas in the country still using paper ballots.

 

[barkley]

This was my first Election Vote. I couldn't even tell you now who I voted for. But I've never missed a Presidential Election.

i just remember all the political stuff for carter that used the slogan 'gimmy jimmy'. a friend's father was a democratic senator at the time (very devoted democratic family)-she wore black and was mourning for a good 2 weeks after the election, in black and mourning again on inauguration day.

I have always thought that if I didn't vote I had no right to complain about what was going on in my local, state and countries government.

THIS! we have told our kids this from the time they could understand what voting means. it really hit home with the oldest when there were a couple of local votes on bonds and he didn't think it was necessary to vote. well when he started complaining a few months later about how his rent was increasing i reminded him of the bond vote he decided not to participate in and how if the landlord's property taxes went up he just passed it on to the tenants. he votes now.

 

[Kestryl]

I don't remember exactly how I felt, I just knew it was something I needed to do. I have always thought that if I didn't vote I had no right to complain about what was going on in my local, state and countries government.




Well apparently they still have paper ballots even now. I think it's kind of crazy that there are still areas in the country still using paper ballots.

YEP. Ask my spouse- he waited an hour and forty minutes to get a ballot because one of the two printers at our voting location broke. And this wasn’t the only polling location in our area with printer problems. Some places ran out of paper. PAPER.

 

[tvguy]

Just went through the results and compared with how I voted. I went with the majority in 39% of the races/measures.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I am now significantly jaded, the older I get the less I think the world changed and the more I think the veneers just wore through... so my GenX self is now a Jedi level cynic.

 

[AppleDumpling]

Well apparently they still have paper ballots even now. I think it's kind of crazy that there are still areas in the country still using paper ballots.

We have paper ballots but no chads, LOL. You fill in the bubbles with a pen, then feed it into a scanner and get a message that your vote has been counted. I’m sure this is fairly common in lots of places. I live in one the most populated counties in the country (NYC suburbs). Occasionally the scanner gets jammed or they have a problem printing ballots, but it’s usually just a minor glitch and short delay.

 

[Uncle Coaster]

My first election I voted in was a presidential election. I took it very seriously. I read everything I could on the candidates, watched cspan regularly, even volunteered for both major party campaigns to get a feel for them.

Then while in line at the polls there was a girl my age there. A friend asked who she was voting for and she replied, “which one played the sax on arsenio? That one”.

My immediate feeling after voting that day was that I had totally wasted my time.

 

[Notreallyaustralian]

Confession time.

In 1984, the incumbent was virtually guaranteed re-election. So as a gag I voted for whoever was running on the Communist Party ticket.

Results were published by precinct in my area, and I wanted to see my single vote noted. Alas, two other people also voted Commie.

LOL. That's pretty funny.

 

[Notreallyaustralian]

I don't think I was too excited. I wasn't really interested in politics then. NOW.... I'm like I need to vote the morning of the first day of early voting, because what if I die and miss my chance?

 

[JLTraveling]

Probably "Meh, I'm hungry, let's go get dinner."

It involved one of those mechanical booths with the lever and the tabs and the drapes. I enjoyed the "ker-thunk" when I pushed the lever to cast the ballot and open the drapes.

Aw, lucky. My parents always took me with them when they voted, and it was always the lever machines. I couldn't wait to grow up and go pull the voting lever myself. But just my luck, our area gave those up right before my first election.

I was still excited though. I'm from a very politically aware/involved family, and I always felt like it was a super important duty.

 

[KayMichigan]

A little uneasy because my Dad was a super staunch Republican, and I voted for Jimmy Carter. He never asked me what my vote was and I sure never told him!

 

[WDWEPCOT]

I was so excited ! My person didn’t win and the next President wasn’t mine either BUT the next one was and man or man was I overjoyed then !! Took 16 years but I was so happy !!!
I still vote every time and I still am happy I live somewhere where I get to do that !! If I have to wait for hours ( I have ) I will do it !! I’ve done it with two little kids telling them how important it is to vote because not everyone in the World is this lucky !!

 

[prairie_girl]

Confession time.

In 1984, the incumbent was virtually guaranteed re-election. So as a gag I voted for whoever was running on the Communist Party ticket.

Results were published by precinct in my area, and I wanted to see my single vote noted. Alas, two other people also voted Commie.

Ahh, the ‘red’ in your name makes sense now lol

 

[RedAngie]

A little uneasy because my Dad was a super staunch Republican, and I voted for Jimmy Carter. He never asked me what my vote was and I sure never told him!

I remember decades ago my father telling my mother who she “will” be voting for. She probably just humored him and then did what she wanted.

It was common 50+ years ago for men to tell their wives how to vote.

 

[georgina]

these are my only choices???? (jimmy carter vs. ronald reagan).

Wasn’t John Anderson running also? That was my first election too, I was a college freshman and there were a lot of Anderson supporters.

 

[georgina]

Well apparently they still have paper ballots even now. I think it's kind of crazy that there are still areas in the country still using paper ballots.

PA went from the horrible old machines with the curtains to electronic touchscreens. People complained there was no paper trail so a few years ago they went to paper scantron sheets you bubble in and scan, which is what we are using in VA also.

 

[DCLMP]

I am now significantly jaded, the older I get the less I think the world changed and the more I think the veneers just wore through... so my GenX self is now a Jedi level cynic.

I hear ya. I live in the Banana Republic where they can't count votes and tabulators don't work. Our plan is too move to Florida in ten years. I won't vote again until then.

 

[prairie_girl]

I remember decades ago my father telling my mother who she “will” be voting for. She probably just humored him and then did what she wanted.

It was common 50+ years ago for men to tell their wives how to vote.

To this day, my mom doesn’t tell anyone who she votes for. I’m not sure what elections my dad can vote in, seeing as how he’s not a citizen.

 

[JLTraveling]

I remember decades ago my father telling my mother who she “will” be voting for. She probably just humored him and then did what she wanted.

It was common 50+ years ago for men to tell their wives how to vote.

My grandparents were staunch Republicans. But my grandmother confessed to me shortly before she passed that she voted for both Clinton and Obama. She hadn't told another soul, most especially my grandpa. Said her vote was between her, the voting machine, and God.