The Outcome of Voting


Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time. - Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Prior to the covid pandemic, one of my favorite things that I looked forward to was election day whether it was a local or a presidential election. I would receive my sample ballot in the mail weeks prior to the election giving me time to research and make my choices carefully.  Then, on the day of the election, I would drive to my polling place and vote. However, due to Covid voting in person hasn’t been the same experience as it was before. 


Election day can be an exciting day but also it can be nerve-wracking because you don’t know what the people are voting for. I always tell myself, to expect the unexpected because I don’t want to keep my hopes up if something goes wrong. On the one hand, I like watching people showing up to vote, it provides me the satisfaction that they are making their voice heard but on the other hand I wish people had a better understanding of what they are voting for. 


Everyone has the right to have their own values and beliefs, sometimes it may not coincide with my own values and that's okay. I respect each individual's values and opinions but that doesn't mean it gives them the right to be rude, ignorant, and dumb. I won’t give names because most of you already know who I am referring to. At the end of the day, they are just people who have flaws and opinions just like us and we cannot change those who refused to change. For example, I am appalled by the results of the gubernatorial race in the state of Texas however I am not surprised. Given the history of Texas in the U.S, it will be difficult to change the red state to a blue one. People want their guns there’s no changing that. This world is darker than I thought. 


I question sometimes whether or not it matters if our vote really counts. I know that people question that as well, many are decisive voters just like myself who don’t know what is going on in their community.  And there are people that rather not get involved in politics and voting; they assume it's a sham and the government is just abusing its power to divide the poor and rich. I don’t believe that is true, but at some point, I did question if my vote has any value. But now I know it does count. 


Election day might be over but the fight is far from over. It may or may not go the way that people expected but we must comply and try to work with the newly elected officials. That’s democracy. It might take days or weeks to know the fate of our Congress leadership. But I just hope people voted correctly and not made it worst.



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