Share Your Story
Having Fun Preparing to Celebrate a Wonderful Election Day?
Feeling a deeper sense of belonging as you offer to help your neighbors vote? What inspiring acts of kindness have you witnessed, initiated or received during voter education, registration or “get out and vote” drives leading up to Election Day?
Vote Kindly wants to hear your story about any voting problems transformed by the power of kindness. Stories about how voters’ kindness-in-action positively changed your election experience could help our entire election system evolve to one that ensures all votes count. Simply reply in the comment box below.
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Chinwe 10.29.08 at 9:05 am
Thank you for the inspiration and the reminder of being kind during this election season, it helped me save a vote.
First of all, I voted early in my sunshine state (FL), something I would not have done, if not for your Vote Kindly campaign. I am so happy I did, the lines were averaging a 1-2 hour wait, so I can only imagine what it will be on Election Day, which happens to be a travel day for me. So now by casting my vote early, I don’t have to worry about making the decision of voting or missing my plane. Thanks a million for the wisdom.
Now, while I was on the line, an elderly gentleman started complaining about the wait and the sun. He said that he was leaving. He had already left another voting site because of long lines. Reminded by the Vote Kindly button I proudly wore, I turned to him and said “Please don’t go, your vote must be cast.” He said “You don’t even know who I am voting for.” I said “it doesn’t matter; I want your vote to be counted.” I went on to tell him that I will hold a space on line in front of me, that he should sit and rest in his car and come back in 45 minutes to look for me. He partially took me up on the offer and left the line to go to the restroom and get a bag of chips, he was back in 20 minutes engaging in conversation with me and offering me some of his chips, telling me that I was so kind.
I have to admit, I wouldn’t have been so inclined to make an offer, if not for Vote Kindly. As I continued through my voting process, I made sure I thanked every poll worker, as they thanked me for voting. Every time I said “Thank you for working the polls” a face would light up.
My whole voting experience was enriched this year, due to the reminder of being kind. Thank you Vote Kindly.
Maggie 11.02.08 at 11:33 pm
I live in Charlottesville, Virginia and had a great experience voting early. I tried registering in Virginia this fall but my voters registration card never came in the mail. So I went to the Obama office (which was nearby my house) for help and they suggested that I vote early by going to the City Hall to ensure that I didn’t run into any more registration problems. In Virginia all the early votes are counted on election day so there is no concern over the votes getting lost in the mail. Even so the workers at the Obama office asked me to stop by the office after I voted to let them know that I didn’t run into any more problems.
So I went to the City Hall and voted at an electronic booth. It was so fast and easy! I went back to the Obama office and told one of the volunteers about my experience. She rang a bell and announced to the crowd that I had voted and then suddenly 30 people cheered for me. Voting never felt so good!
I really appreciated the concern the Obama volunteers had about making sure I had a chance to vote. Over the last few days I’ve also had a handful of people come to my door to make sure that I plan to vote on Tuesday (even though I’ve already voted). Not all of them asked who I was voting for - they just wanted to make sure I was going out to vote. It’s nice to see some kindness in this campaign. It makes me want to help others in some way and fortunately votekindly,org gives me many ideas on how I can help.