Since I have a broken ankle and want to avoid crowds on Election Day, I voted early last week at Town Hall. As I stuck an “I voted” sticker on my jacket, I heard a man who’d also just voted tell a poll worker, “This is the 15th presidential election I have voted in.” I was impressed and humbled.

I thought of my 79-year-old dad, with Parkinson’s, who struggles to walk around easily, and he will also go to the polls. I thought of the people who cannot drive due to poor eyesight, but will find rides or make their way to a bus stop in order to get to their local polling station. I thought of parents who will hire a babysitter in order to make it to the polls and others who will take their kids with them.

On the flip side, I know people who will not vote at all in protest against the two major candidates. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have died to sustain our freedoms, voting being one of the most sacred; I for one will not stomp on their memory and forgo this privilege. There is no excuse not to vote: walk, wheel, drive, bike, bus, carpool your way to the polls and contribute to our democracy.

Nicole Wiesendanger
South Portland