Items

• 2020-11-03

  First Time Voter

  Unlike my fellow peers, I was only 17 during my senior year of high school. The 2020 election was supposed to be my first chance to vote in person. Many of my classmates and friends were able to vote in person during the primaries or in state elections, but I did not. I started getting into politics about four years ago. Ever since then, I was excited at the prospect to make a change by voting. In February, I went to vote in the New Hampshire primary. Since I was not yet registered, I went to the corresponding line. I sat down and filled out the registration form. I asked the worker for help and she said "Oh..you're not 171/2 years old. You will need to wait until you're 18 to register". Disheartened, I left. I did not get register or vote. When I went to college in the fall, it made it even harder for me to be able to vote. Since I only live an hour from school, I planned on just coming back on election day and vote. Although, I do not have many health risk factors, I do live in a school community that could be in the higher risk category and did not want to expose anyone. Therefore, I try to limit my exposure as much as possible. With voting in person seeming too risky, I decided I should vote using an absentee ballot. When I visited home for my first long weekend, I went to the town clerk to request an absentee ballot. A few days later when I was back on campus, I received my ballot in the mail. I filled it out in my dorm room and then dropped it off at the USPS mailbox. I did not feel like I voted at all. I did not get the experience of waiting in line, putting the ballot in the ballot box, or even getting an "I voted" sticker. Even though I did not get to have the full experience of voting, I am happy I took the extra precautions during this time to ensure my safety as well as others.