John Andrist: Treasuring The Right To Vote

I can still remember, after more than 60 years, how excited I was to vote for the first time.

In all those years that have intervened I think there was only one election I missed. It was on a Tuesday of course, and that has long been the day when we were focussed on getting our newspaper to bed. I think it was a local bond issue vote, and I remember feeling sick to my stomach when I realized I had forgotten to cast my ballot.

[mks_pullquote align=”right” width=”300″ size=”24″ bg_color=”#000000″ txt_color=”#ffffff”]It’s always been my view that we cheapen our vote if we don’t provide adequate security to make certain that somebody could nullify my vote, or even your vote if you feel as strongly about this as I do, by voting illegally or in the wrong place.[/mks_pullquote]

It’s always been my view that we cheapen our vote if we don’t provide adequate security to make certain that somebody could nullify my vote, or even your vote if you feel as strongly about this as I do, by voting illegally or in the wrong place.

Providing proper identification is a no-brainer for me. Is it really such an onerous thing if a few folks are denied a ballot because they were too lazy or uninformed to get a proper ID?

A few folks are going ballistic over the recent report that 189 NDSU students couldn’t vote, because they didn’t do their homework.

It’s basic common sense to me that our right to vote should be precious enough to do our homework, particular when it requires so little and represents making certain that our voting comrades only do so when and where they are supposed to do it.