AARP OUTREACH: Primary balloting – Be safe, vote from home

by Japhet Els

I followed my mother up the town hall steps, into the large meeting room wondering why this didn’t feel like “just another errand.” I was at the age where everything was “up” – everyone was taller, countertops might as well have been rooflines, ceilings were skies of sorts, and the floor was comfortably close at all times. As we entered the hall, I recall organizing the world by all the different lower body apparel jostling about – jeans, khakis, skirts, leggings, and a few brave souls in shorts. Perhaps we all have that distant memory of grabbing the wrong pair of legs in a crowd and looking up in terror at an unfamiliar face. Being four years old has many benefits but height is not one of them.

We waited in line among our fellow neighbors until a woman who wore her gray hair in a tight bun, whose glasses dangled dangerously close to the end of her nose, ushered us to an open booth. My mother led me inside. I suddenly felt like something special was about to unfold. It was as though we were entering confession only there was no priest on the other side. She pulled a large lever from left to right in front of her and suddenly a curtain pulled shut directly behind us. Ta-dah! We were ready to punch our ballot for the 1984 general election. To my four-year old brain it wasn’t just special, it was magic.

I vote on my own now but it still feels like magic even at the worst of times. I’ve learned how important this duty is within a strong, engaged, community. But it’s not easy to feel inspired these days. Often elections have boring issues, terrible candidates, and zero motivating factors. But, as my grandfather reminded me once, “the boring ones are the most important ones,” so we can’t afford to ignore them. Indeed, the act of voting is not about how inspired you may feel. Instead, it’s about how much inspiration you can bring to Election Day.

Going to the polls isn’t in the cards for me on July 14. That’s our next primary election here in Maine where we’ll decide on congressional candidates, important local issues, and ballot measures that I hope Mainers won’t ignore. Even if you’re not affiliated with either party, you have a ballot, and community, that needs your voice. Instead of going to the polls on July 14 I’ll be casting my ballot from home, absentee. Why? Well, I guess I’d rather be cautious and wise today than risk being a fool tomorrow. We aren’t any less free filling our ballots out at home. We aren’t any less patriotic mailing them into our town clerks. Indeed, I’d argue we’re even freer, more patriotic, by carrying out our duty safely and securely from home during a questionable public health moment.

There are many unknowns in this strange new world we’re all adjusting to. I don’t feel I can address all of them and perhaps you feel the same. So, I end up taking it one day at a time. When it comes to July 14 and carrying out our duty as Maine citizens, it’s not a hard choice: Vote safe. Vote from home. Getting your absentee ballot is simple. Call your town clerk or the Secretary of State’s office and request your absentee ballot today so you’ll have it securely in your mailbox around June 15 with plenty of time to fill it out and mail it back in. We’re asking more and more Mainers who don’t feel the need to take the risk of voting in person to “Vote safe, vote from home.”

Will I miss piling into my local elementary school gym to vote alongside my friends and neighbors? Sure. But do I want to put others, myself, or the volunteers handing out ballots, at risk? Not really. Especially if voting absentee is an easy and established option.

I hope you’ll join me, and thousands of other Mainers on July 14 in voting absentee. We can carry out our duty wisely from home. It won’t take away from the magic built into an American tradition but it will help stamp out this pandemic, and that’s something we all can get behind no matter your age (or height).

If you’d like to request your absentee ballot you can go to https://bit.ly/ME_AbsenteeRequest and fill out the request form on the Secretary of State’s website. Or, simply call your Town Clerk’s office and request an absentee ballot directly.

Japhet Els is Outreach Director for AARP Maine.