Jodee Taylor: The right to vote

Jodee Taylor

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Jodee Taylor

November 1, 2010

By JODEE TAYLOR jtaylor@record-eagle.com The Record Eagle Mon Nov 01, 2010, 07:17 AM EDT

Turning 18 can be pretty cool.

You can go to the casino, of course, apparently a rite of passage for teenagers all over northern Michigan. One friend called it The Penny Slot Birthday.

Another bonus, and one of my faves, is that you can sign your own paperwork at school, from the check-in list when you arrive a half-hour late because of an early morning dentist appointment, to the vaccination list because you haven't had the second dose of yellow fever (or something).

When I turned 18, I could drink. They quickly saw the error of their ways on that law and repealed it before I turned 21. That meant I got two "I'm finally old enough to go to the bar!" celebrations.

Being 18 also means you're old enough to go to war — or vote against it.

My son turned 18 a couple months ago. I'm grateful there's no draft these days; I can't imagine sending my baby into harm's way.

But I'm having fun watching his excitement about voting for the first time.

"I can finally have a say in who's been running my life for 18 years," he said.

"You don't get to vote on your parents," I said.

I'm a pretty reliable voter, just because I don't think you have a right to bitch if you haven't exercised your right to vote. And I do like to bitch.

But there are still too many people who don't vote. Even in the last presidential election, a record-setter in Michigan, about 68 percent of Michiganians voted. That means 32 percent didn't — almost one out of every three people.

The process of voting has gotten pretty darn easy. A few weeks before my son's birthday, he got a postcard from the secretary of state, telling him how to register. You can mail in a form, take it to any secretary of state office, drop it off at the Governmental Center ... it's almost a no-brainer.

A lot of my friends already have voted in tomorrow's election because they opt for absentee ballots.

I like going to the Fife Lake Township Hall to vote; the volunteers are always nice, it's rarely crowded. We chat about the weather, the turnout, local happenings. They tell me how to work everything, I vote, I get a sticker and I'm done. Even the hours the polls are open are convenient — I can vote before work, after work, after dinner or any point in between.

Everything about voting is easy and fun — kind of like a casino, except voting is free.

Responsible voting, of course, requires educating yourself on the candidates and the issues, something I've been nagging my son about for a couple weeks. I admit, it's hard to get excited about a county commission race, especially when you plan on leaving this county in your dust the day after you graduate from high school.

A high-profile presidential election is exciting, but the local races are important too, I keep telling my son. Read about the people who will make decisions about the schools, think about county government, look into who wants to run the state.

Then, in six months, let's sit down and bitch.

Jodee Taylor can be reached at jtaylor@record-eagle.com.