go VOTE

In response to Margaret and Bryan's posts, I couldn't agree more w/ Mr. Slauenwhite. Canadians (both the people and Elections Canada) indeed spend a lot of time, effort, and tax dollars on ensuring a democratic voting process. Here's what I went through to cast my vote: When I was home for the holidays, I had to print out, fill out, and send in a registration form to Ottawa (along with having to go get a photocopy of my driver's license and send in as well). Two days ago (Monday), I received my mail-in ballot (here in Ireland) to fill out and send back to Ottawa. It came with THREE additional envelopes inside for me to send back to ensure confidentiality in my vote. I then had to go online to see who the candidates are in my riding. When I realized I only had a week to get the ballot back to Ottawa, I called the embassy in Dublin to see if it'd be faster if I sent it to them. Of course, as all Irish offices do, the embassy was closed for their 2 hour lunch break. In the end, I decided to go ahead to the post office and see how much it'd cost to rush the envelope back by the 23rd. And when I was going through all the trouble of stuffing one envelope in the other, and then bolting to the post office to get the ballot sent off and make it back to class on time, I was wondering if all my efforts (and postage) were really worth my one vote. But after reflecting on what Slauenwhite wrote, my troubles certainly pale in comparison to what some people have to go through in order to even obtain the right to cast a vote that counts. So all you slackers out there - go vote! Enjoy our freedom, and "be joyful always". Go Canada.