Yesterday, a lot of people in Navajo County wore a small sticker that said "I voted." It is a modest thing, a bit of sticky paper that ends up on a jacket, a dashboard, or the refrigerator door of a kid who wanted one too. But it says something that no campaign ad or yard sign can say as well. It says a person showed up, did the work of being a citizen and trusted that the work counts.
Voting in a place like ours is not always easy. Distances are long and the drive to a polling place or a drop-off box can take real time out of a working day. Ranchers, shift workers, teachers and retirees all made room for it anyway. Those who voted early or by mail did the same thing on a different schedule. However a ballot got in, it carried the same weight as every other one.
Elections end but what they decide keeps going. School boards, city councils, county offices and statewide seats shape the roads we drive, the classrooms our children sit in, and the services we count on. Those elected answer to the same people who filled out the ballots. That relationship does not end when the polls close. It continues at public meetings, in public records and in the simple act of paying attention.
Whatever the results turn out to be, today is a good day to remember that the process belongs to everyone, no matter which way anyone voted. Neighbors who disagreed yesterday still share the same town today. If you voted, thank you. If you did not this time, I urge you to not make it a habit. We happen to live in a time and place where voting is possible and that is a terrible thing to waste.
