Letter to the Editor / Election memory

The best thing that happened to me though out the campaign was on Election Day when I had an opportunity to help an elderly blind man vote.

I’ve done a lot during this campaign. I was elected a delegate to the Democratic National Convention and voted for Hillary Clinton to be the party’s nominee for President. I attended the final Platform Committee Meeting and was successful in having “The Everglades” be added to the platform plank that listed waters that need protection.  I’ve knocked on doors, made phone calls and posted way too many political opinions on Facebook.

At noon on Tuesday I was canvassing to get out the vote. At my fourth stop, the gentlemen who answered the door told me he was blind but was ready to walk right now to the poll and vote. He just needed someone’s help to get there. That’s when I broke the rules. I was told how important the canvassing was and that I needed to contact all 60 names on my sheets. Spending too much time with anyone would mess things up, but this man needed my help and I could not say no.

As I guided his walker the two blocks to his voting location I should not have been surprised that everyone in the neighborhood greeted him by name.  When we entered the room, the polling volunteers also knew him. He handed me his wallet, and said “Just get my driver’s license out to prove that I can vote here.” Everyone treated him with respect and got us the form that was necessary to allow me to help him mark his ballot.

Neither of us were happy about the election results, but helping someone who otherwise may not have been able to vote was an amazing experience I’ll always remember.

Mark E. Songer

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