Raising voters

I remember when my dad took me to register to vote. Back then, you had to go to the local county election office and register in person. My first election was 1992: Clinton vs. Bush. My parents took me to vote, walked me through a sample ballot beforehand and told me how to vote on the now-infamous butterfly-style ballot.

When I had kids of my own, my wife and I took them to the polls with us when they were little. We explained the importance of voting, and we modeled that behavior by voting in every election, even primaries. The poll workers always loved having them and gave them stickers. We talked about why we needed to vote even when our preferred candidate loses.¹ When they were old enough, we helped them get registered and taught them how to find sample ballots online and research candidates. We took them to vote for the first time and explained how the process would go. Both girls reached out as we approached election day to make sure we had a plan for voting, which of course, we did. Recently I talked to my oldest about when she’ll need to update her registration when she moves at the end of her college career. In a couple of years, we’ll repeat the process with our youngest, who isn’t eligible to vote yet.

As parents, I believe part of our responsibility as citizens in a functional democracy is to raise voters. I was proud to vote with my girls this week and I know they’ll continue to vote in the future.

And… congrats to our new senator, Dr. Annie Andrews. 🇺🇸

---

Bob Wertz is a type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina. He’s been a voter since 1992 and a blogger since 2008.