my voting history, by me

[flea]

I was thinking last night about elections I have participated in, and those I have not. I was pretty patchy at the start, and didn't become a reliable voter until I was in my later 20s.

1990: I turn 18. Freshman year in college; do not vote.

1992 (age 20): Junior Year abroad in Athens, Greece. Register to vote at home (Wallingford CT) and turn in absentee ballot at the Athenian embassy for diplomatic mail, as Greek postal service is in a tragedy/comedy phase. Voted for Clinton; can;t recall local election matters, but I supported my congressperson, Rosa DeLauro, and CT's two senators, Dodd and Lieberman. (Hey, all three are still seated!)

1994 (age 22): Spend August-November in Europe on field project and travel; do not vote.

1996 (age 24): living in Cincinnati. Do not vote; I can't bring myself to vote for Clinton again, feeling betrayed by welfare reform, don't ask don't tell, and Lewinsky (I think - not sure how far that had broken yet). I don't know who my congressperson in Ohio was, and could probably have named a senator at the time, and the governor, although I can't now.

1998 (age 26): whoops, I'm in Greece again. Do not vote.

2000 (age 28): living in Thomaston, CT. Do homework on local, state, and national issues, and vote on old ca-chunk machines in town hall. Vote for Nader for president, Lieberman for senate, and the incumbent, a Republican woman whose name is eluding me, for House. Note: CT is a safe Blue state.

2002 (age 30): have just moved to NC. Don't recall voting.

Since we moved to Durham in April 2003 I've voted in every election, including primaries, and done my homework. I think I did miss a couple of special runoffs for local offices. I am registered to vote here, and will do so, but have very little information yet about local issues (except the school board, which is a kettle of fish). I know who my congressperson is, but can't recall GA's senators at the moment (not up for election this year, I don't think). Have some reading to do.

Comments

[veejane.livejournal.com]

Do you remember ever voting for Lowell Weicker for governor? I remember the whole thing when he split off and did a third party, and then after he was done the third party suddenly realizd that it was basically the Lowell Weicker Party, and would not survive his retirement.

One of the things I love about living in a yellow dog state is the third-party candidates. Green, Rainbow, and I think in 2004 I remember a Socialist Workers' Party candidate. (For something like City Council.)

[serrana.livejournal.com]

I once missed a local special election for the water board, but I think that's the only one I've missed since turning 18.

I didn't know anyone in the water board race and didn't have the time to research it, but I still feel kind of bad about it.

[katie-m.livejournal.com]

Note: CT is a safe Blue state.

Heard the howling of the wolves there, huh?

[casperflea.livejournal.com]

I definitely calculated before voting for Nader. If we'd been in Ohio it would have been another matter!

[casperflea.livejournal.com]

Weicker was elected governor in 1990, and didn't run again in 1994. Thank you Wikipedia! Also, he was a Republican until unseated by Lieberman. Lots of Republicans supported Lieberman because Weicker didn't get along with the Bushes. Huh.