I Voted.

To answer (or try!) the Aussie questions from yesterday - the election I voted in today was a primary election. Here in the District, we have three official parties, the two I'm sure you have heard of, the Democrats and the Republicans, and the D.C. Statehood Green Party. I'm a member of the Deomcratic party, but if there is no democrat running for a particular office in a general election, I will vote Statehood Green.

Anyway. In the primaries, we are only voting on our party's candidate. So, for some offices, there is only one name, and for some offices, there are several and you have to chose who you want to represent you in the general election. To vote in the primaries, you must be registered with a party (not registered independant) and you can only vote on your party's ballot. (Like, I couldn't walk in and ask to vote on the Republican ballot today.)

We were not voting on the presidential candidate; that was already decided. Today we were voting on Congressional offices and state party representatives. You may think it's odd we vote for Congressional offices, since, well, we have no representation in Congress, but we do have a non-voting Representative, and we have a shadow Senator and Representative, who are all ready to jump in the second we are named full citizens of our own country.

I think I've already discussed why I think it's important to vote, but it can't hurt to talk about it again. First of all, way back in the 1700s, people died so that I could have representation. Then, there were the suffragettes, who were willing to die and be force fed through tubes and thrown in the slammer so that I could vote. In my opinion, not voting is the same as telling these brave people that what they did wasn't worth it.

Finally, as a resident of the District of Columbia, I pay federal taxes (just like every other American) but I don't have a Senator or a Congressional Representative who can vote (unlike most other Americans, but hey, at least Puerto Rico is choosing to be this way!). Yes, I am taxed but not represented, the very thing we fought a revolutionary war against. But in my opinion, if I don't vote, I'm basically saying that I don't care about all that. District residents should vote, in every election, no matter how small, order to show the government that we are just as able as residents of states to govern ourselves.