Thursday, May 17, 2012

How Important Is It To Vote?



You probably know that I have dual citizenship - American and Canadian - and have had for about eight years now. American and Canadian government systems are quite different.

YOUR VOTE COUNTS! Every vote counts! That is always true, no matter what election.

Where I live - in Angelina County, Texas - about 100 miles up from Houston, early voting is so simple that I cannot imagine anyone not taking a little time to go downtown to vote for the candidate they would like to see in office.

We have computerized voting here now and you just have to point to the box beside your choice for each of the offices. If there is an office showing where you don't know any of the candidates, you can leave it and go on to the next.

There are a couple of questions to answer which are easy but if you don't answer them, you can just go on.

Here in the United States, you do have to tell the person who checks you in whether you want to vote on a Republican or Democratic ballot.

I am definitely not the person to instruct you in American politics but for my Canadian readers, I just want to remind you that it is different.

Right now, we are choosing who will be running as the party candidate against the other party candidate in November. This ballot includes President.

SO, LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH SOME PEOPLE LIKE GREG SANCHES and want him to be Sheriff of Angelina County.

Several people have told me that they will go in and vote the Republican ballot so they can ensure Greg will be on the Republican ballot in November! Sweet to hear Democrats say that!

How important is it to vote? Well, we recently had an election for Mayor in our city. It is not a large city and there are probably 20,000 registered voters. The man who had been Mayor had done a fine job and I believe many people truly liked him. However, his opponent got more votes and we have a different - or new - mayor. How he did that was by getting all the people who wanted him as Mayor to get out and vote. That may sound simple but it is not. (About 2,600 votes were cast.)

Hubby and I voted on Monday - the first day of Early Voting. That was 2 votes for Greg Sanches.

The Saturday before, I wore my Greg Sanches T-shirt to a BBQ restaurant. Our server asked about Greg and when she could vote. That is 1/2 vote for Greg Sanches because we cannot be sure.

Today, I wore my Greg Sanches shirt to the Grocery store. As I was packing my groceries in the car, a couple stopped and asked where they could get a shirt like mine. I told them where - if there were any left - and told them,

"Don't Forget To Vote!"

"We just came from voting for Greg."

That is 2 votes right there.

There is a Sanches sign on our lawn and a sticker on our vehicle. That might be votes.

You are starting to get the idea, right?

Ever since I came here, Greg Sanches gave interviews to the local TV station when he was in other areas of law enforcement. He was always available.

A few months ago, while he was still with DPS, he and a comrade came to speak to our Golden Heirs group at church. They brought a dog trained in finding drugs . . . a major problem as we are so close to the Mexican border. That Retriever tore a marijuana soaked towel to threads. (He knew his job!)

Greg answered questions and gave us a better insight to the problems of our area. There should be a few votes there.

(I really am not going to give you a lot of stories, but for you people from Canada, Bob Rae is a good example of someone whose supporters got the vote out when he ran for Ontario Premier years ago on the NDP ticket.)

My point is this: If you LIKE a person and feel they will do a good job for you, YOU MUST GET OUT AND VOTE. Your vote counts and I mean that! No use to say later, that you meant to vote for him or her.

If you do not know Greg and what he stands for, there are many videos on YouTube, including this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZz9ujdqim8&feature=youtube