Four More Years

Yesterday I got an email from my mom telling me there was a problem with my absentee ballot, namely that I need to sign some paper in order to send it out, and considering that it would be too late to send it to Japan, and that the deadline to register for voting online has passed, I won't be afforded the opportunity to exercise my right as an American citizen to vote for president this year. Such a turn of events has deeply shocked and saddened me. For the past year, starting with the primaries, I have followed this election closely, torn between the two candidates, making my ultimate decision only about a month ago. The news that I now can't vote hurts me very deeply.

In 2004, I was in China, and under similar circumstances, mostly because of my own ignorance about election rules, I was once again disenfranchised. I spent the whole last four years telling my friends and family "I voted for.... well, I didn't vote, but I supported..." It was annoying and a huge knock to my credibility in political discussions. Since I was a young child, I have always been a huge presidential history buff; I'd say in my knowledge of the 42 men who presided over the executive branch of our government (and even the three who lead the articles of confederation government), I'm in the top 1% of Americans. And yet, I have never had the chance to vote in a national election. It's insulting. Guess I'll have to make sure on the first Tuesday of November 2012 that I'm in the good old USA...