When Was the First Time You Voted?

Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.

Social Studies. Bridges. Amendments. When Was the First Time You Voted?

I was registering to vote in the upcoming Presidential election in Georgia. The registrar asked if I was registered to vote in any other state.

“No. I used to live in Texas, but I wasn’t old enough to vote then.”

The Twenty-Sixth Amendment Passes

I was in Texas at the age of 18, when you still had to be 21. I was in Georgia, at the age of 21, when the law had been changed to allow voting for 18-year-olds.

Voting laws changed during the Vietnam war.

This was a nod to the sentiment that young men who were old enough to fight and die, who could be drafted at 18, should have some say in who was voted in to wage war and send them into harm’s way.

The Twenty-sixth Amendment, lowering the voting age in all states from 21 to 18 for Presidential elections was passed in 1971. It does not apply to state and local elections.

Inaugural Parades in Washington, DC

I still vote in every Presidential election, understanding that citizenship has not just rights, but responsibilities.

And, whether my candidate wins or not, I go into Washington, DC and watch the inaugural parade, every time.

Last time, when they closed the bridges from Virginia into the city, I slept on the floor of a friend’s son’s place in the city so I could be on the Mall.

Walking around in Washington, DC is like walking into my fifth-grade Social Studies book.

When was the first time you voted?

How old were you?

Did you ever take your children into the voting booth with you?

Did you ever discuss politics over the dinner table with your children?

To you and the blessings of citizenship your grandchildren will enjoy.

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Carol Covin, “Granny-Guru”

Author, “Who Gets to Name Grandma? The Wisdom of Mothers and Grandmothers”

http://newgrandmas.com