By DARREN PETERSON
Guest Columnist
Editor’s note: Darren Peterson currently serves as an At Large member of the Noblesville Common Council.
The current situation of COVID-19 has forced us out of professional and personal patterns – those daily, weekly rituals that make life normal and comfortable. The way we drive to work, attend church, visit relatives, and put on pants are all patterns that have changed. We are now trying to find new patterns to become comfortable with unfamiliar circumstances.
Voting, another ritual, is no different. There is something very satisfying about physically going to a polling place and voting. Carving out a few minutes, rain or shine, to have a voice in the future leadership of the country, state and community is very empowering. So, the thought of voting by mail may seem, like so many other things, frustrating. Downloading another online meeting platform, wearing a mask, and now voting by mail? While it’s no less important, no less empowering, just simply, a way most of us have never done it.
Well, I did the voting by mail anyway. It went like this…
I pounded on the keyboard, five minutes before I needed to go to the grocery, and logged onto the Hamilton County website. I filled the application out online, printed it, signed it and put it in the mailbox. Soon, the elections office would mail me back a ballot. It was much easier than I had anticipated. I thought, “That was easy, but it is definitely going to get harder. It has to, it’s government.”
The ballot showed up in the mail a couple days later. From the packaging, signatures and security sleeve, quite frankly, seems even more confidential than worrying about someone peeking over your shoulder at the polling place. The part I did not anticipate was leaving it on the table for three days to really think about it. So many times, standing in front of the machine, I feel pressure to vote quickly, focusing on one or two races near the top of the ticket. If my kids were still at home, we would have set up debates, each kid researching a candidate and then presenting. My dog and cat refused to debate, so I did my own research and I filled it out, eventually, and mailed it back.
No parking issue, no mask to put on, no lines, no rain. To be perfectly honest, it was so much more rewarding and empowering than I expected. I will consider voting this way going forward.
Regardless of how you choose to vote or what options are available for voting in your community, get involved and have a voice. VOTE!