Voted yet? Remember your first time? Ballots for the 2020 general election began arriving in mailboxes
this week, along with reminders such as this on a south Bellingham fence.
The first time I voted was in November 1968. I was angry and scared about the war, heartbroken about Martin Luther King, Jr., and Bobby Kennedy, exhausted after working for Eugene McCarthy and watching Hubert Humphrey nominated, and filling out an absentee ballot sent from Hawaii.
I voted for Eldridge Cleaver, Black Panther Party. I voted in anger; I don’t recall voting down the ballot for any other offices or issues. Since then I’ve voted in every presidential election, sometimes in anger, sometimes not. And always down the ballot for all other offices and issues.
How about you? When was your first time voting?
Share your story with others by sending an email (100 words max) with a headshot to SalishCurrent@gmail.com, subject line: Voting.
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— Mike Sato, Managing Editor