Election Day

I have voted in every election for the past 12 years. I remember being so excited to register to vote in my first election when I turned 18. Those election judges at Whitesides Elem. were so nice to me that night when I went with my Dad and sister. It was really neat to be an election judge myself in May 2001 and remind everyone to make sure there were no 'hanging chads' on their ballots.

I will admit that even though I've voted every time, I haven't been a fully informed voter every time. For example, in November 1999, shortly after moving to Boise, Ryan and I went to vote not knowing anything about what was on the ballot. In Idaho you can register at the poll, you just need a picture ID and a proof of residency, so we went to our polling place, registered to vote and then were given ballots with 2 seats to fill and one person running for each seat. It turned out that that election recorded one of the lowest voter turnouts in Boise history with 14.5% of registered voters voting. Wow.

Since then, we have done a much better job of becoming informed, although judges still don't have anything written on them, so I follow my mom's advice and don't vote for incumbent judges (sometimes). Usually, we read the voter guide in the Idaho Statesman, but this year, after reading their trivial amount of coverage, Ryan found a much better guide from the Boise Weekly. We are now prepared to vote. Are you?

Go Vote!