By my reckoning, this is my 10th time voting in a general election with a presidential ticket.
I can’t count how many other times I’ve voted in primaries, on-year and off-year municipal elections, and several special ballot measure elections that are much more common in Nebraska than in Kansas due to significant constitutional and legal differences between the two states.
My parents set a good example, discussing the candidates and issues at the dinner table then taking my brother and I to vote on Election Day, because mail-in ballots and early voting were not yet common.
I voted in my college union because decisions made in my college town had more impact on my daily life than those in my hometown.
I voted in the U.S. embassy in Bogotá, Colombia, and the U.S. consulate in Guadalajara, Mexico, before overseas mail-in ballots were common. I voted in Maricopa County, Ariz. I’ve voted in person on election day, by advanced (mail-in) ballot, and, most recently, in-person early at the Reno County Courthouse Annex.
I’ve voted in small conference rooms, school meeting rooms, church dining halls, and several gymnasiums. I’ve voted during ice storms in May and blizzards in November.
I always took my son with me to vote, and I am proud to say that he has never missed any election—not a municipal, a primary or a general. He voted early on the first or second day it was available this year, and he hounded me every day about it until I did last week.
Those who know me know that I have a passion for voter registration. I have registered voters for non-partisan non-profit groups in Nebraska and students on my college campus when I was president of the Locke & Key Society. I have manned voter registration booths as a member and in leadership of the Reno County Democrats.
However, registering people to vote doesn’t automatically translate into more people turning out at the polls.
And here’s the thing — voting was denied to so many people in this country for a very long time. Women petitioned for the right to vote in 1878, but the 19th Amendment was not ratified until 1920, 42 years later. Native Americans and African Americans in many parts of the country were denied the vote until the 1965 passage of the Voting Rights Act, which was significantly weakened by the Supreme Court in 2013.
I urge you to vote. Take a friend. Volunteer to drive people to the polls. In 2020, I had the privilege of driving a World War II veteran from his independent living facility to the fairgrounds so he could vote. The skies were clear and sunny, so we drove around town and stopped at Village Inn for coffee and pie. He told me his life story, from his childhood in Massachusetts to joining the Army, being sent to Japan to guard prisoners, returning to his base near Great Bend, marrying a Kansas girl, and settling down.
Early voting is available on Monday, Nov. 4, from 8 a.m. until noon at the Reno County Courthouse Annex. On Election Day, the polls will open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. You can still vote if you are in line at 7 p.m.
Check the Kansas Secretary of State’s voter information site to find your polling place.
