Mom says that the first time she voted in Hawaii was when I was in the 8th grade and came home from school telling her she needed to vote. She says we went down together to the polling station so she could take part in the election process. I don't remember any of this, but she insists that's what happened.
Then Art and I moved to Chicago. When we moved back in 2008, we registered to vote in Hawaii and I made sure that mom could once again vote. She was afraid to at first thinking she would have to serve in a jury that she wouldn't understand. I had to explain that it was simple enough to explain that her English was too limited.
I then learned that we could get mail-in ballots with everything written in Japanese for mom. Perfect!
There were about two dozen amendments to the Hawaii constitution and charter that needed to be voted on this year. It was a headache for me to understand the gobbledygook explanation in English! Mom spent two days studying the Japanese explanation and came up with almost the same conclusions we did. I was amazed she took it dead serious.
Well... what she was really dead serious about this time was voting against Trump. She said she wanted to make sure our country would not be a laughing stock to the world.
I love the early mail-in ballots. Hawaii tends to be very apathetic when it comes to voting. I wonder if we'd have a higher percentage of voting if it were all done by mail-in ballots. Whatever the case, it's a whole lot more convenient. The best part? We're done! Our ballot is in the mail!
Then Art and I moved to Chicago. When we moved back in 2008, we registered to vote in Hawaii and I made sure that mom could once again vote. She was afraid to at first thinking she would have to serve in a jury that she wouldn't understand. I had to explain that it was simple enough to explain that her English was too limited.
There were about two dozen amendments to the Hawaii constitution and charter that needed to be voted on this year. It was a headache for me to understand the gobbledygook explanation in English! Mom spent two days studying the Japanese explanation and came up with almost the same conclusions we did. I was amazed she took it dead serious.
Well... what she was really dead serious about this time was voting against Trump. She said she wanted to make sure our country would not be a laughing stock to the world.
I love the early mail-in ballots. Hawaii tends to be very apathetic when it comes to voting. I wonder if we'd have a higher percentage of voting if it were all done by mail-in ballots. Whatever the case, it's a whole lot more convenient. The best part? We're done! Our ballot is in the mail!
Our early voting starts on Thursday. Dan and I will go in the evening before it closes at 8. I need to do this since I'll be in NH on election day. Early voting lasts a week.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice to go for voting...
ReplyDeleteGood for you guys! The Toronto Star is already predicting a victory for Hillary based on all the polls.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your precious votes.
ReplyDeleteHere too, and I love mail in ballots.
ReplyDeleteThere is something satisfying to me about actually going to the polling place, but however it gets done I pray that Trump will be decisively defeated.
ReplyDeleteYour wonderful Mom. Happy election results!
ReplyDeleteyay for your mom continuing to voice her concerns for her country and put action to those concerns by voting. Wish there were more like her.
ReplyDeleteI too mailed my ballot a few weeks ago. I've had a mail-in ballot since I was still teaching. The fall is a busy time for teachers, especially when I was doing yearbook, so I made sure that I need not stop what I was doing to get to the poll and vote. It has become so easy that I don't plan to go back to the other way.
wish we had mail in ballots but I only have to walk a short distance to our community center to vote.
ReplyDeleteAmericans pack so much extraneous stuff into an election (not that it isn't important, but I think it makes it more difficult and even onerous). Here we mark one X on one ballot.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I have today marked down to go to Honolulu Hale to vote. Its been a tradition to go there to vote early.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a ton of fun, but I'm still loving the convenience of the mail-ins.
Delete:-)
Oregon votes by mail only and it is wonderful. I enjoyed reading about your mom. Oh that our young people could realize the importance of voting as your mom does. Good for her!
ReplyDeleteI will be mailing mine by this weekend. Glad to have it done!
ReplyDeleteGood for you . People have to get out and vote for the right thing to happen.
ReplyDeleteGood for you . People have to get out and vote for the right thing to happen.
ReplyDeleteVoted by mail a week ago. Permanent absentee voter in California and now Hawaii. I will again work at our precinct on November 8th, even though this election has sickened me like no other.
ReplyDeleteI will go to the polls myself. And yes, I will vote for Hillary. I agree with your mom. Trump would make us the laughingstock of the rest of the world. He is so ignorant! Trump also believes the voting constituency is ignorant. My son-in-law is not voting for either of them. He is voting for one of the other candidates. I told my daughter that that is the same as voting for Trump. It's one less vote for Hillary. I have read all her books and understand why she holds the media at bay and is such a personal person. She is extremely intelligent. She did a great job as senator. She may be able to work across the aisle.
ReplyDeleteOur ballots in Washington state are all by mail. Hubby's came the other day but mine hasn't, it should be there today, and then we'll sit down and vote together, going over all the issues. We were always one of the first in line to vote in our precinct in Colorado. I sort of miss going there and seeing other people voting. But we have grown accustomed to mail-in voting. :-)
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful your Mom could get ballots in Japanese. I thought I would enjoy mail in voting but then recently they found a mail carrier that had dumped thousands of pieces of mail in a ditch. Yikes.
ReplyDeleteI'll go to the polls and be happy for the privilege.
We're voting by mail and with the same pride and hope to avoid our country being [more of] a laughing stock
ReplyDeleteHi Kay, Aunty continues to amaze and impress me. Hugs to her! Holly
ReplyDeleteI was really surprised she studied those charter things so carefully too. It was NOT easy to figure out!
DeleteI'll go our polling place and vote. Mail in sounds good - maybe next time!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that there were foreign language ballots, but I'm glad there are.
ReplyDeleteIt feels good to have voted and be done with it. I am finding that I can just ignore a lot of the campaign stuff flooding the news and the Internet. I'm ready for election day to get here!
Your mom is an amazing lady and a role model for us all. I can't wait for this to be all over with. I've never seen anything like it. There are also no political displays in our neighborhood, well, maybe one or two but this is the first time in over 24 years that I have seen so few.
ReplyDeleteI voted yesterday. I'm trying not to think about the election.
ReplyDeleteWell done. You sure respect your mother!
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