Do you take your children with you to vote?
Categories: In the news, Media, That's entertainment
Today is a big day in Texas, and while part of me is excited to see what happens with today's primaries, part of me will be relieved to get a break from all of the campaign commercials. As I mentioned recently, my son has taken a big interest in the presidential campaign this year. Texas has a two-part primary, which is nicknamed the "Texas Two Step." Part 1 involves voting in the primary election, and Part 2 is a caucus where you bring your stamped voter card back at 7 p.m. and you can participate in the caucus. However, this process only applies to the Democrats. (I guess I just told you which party I'll be voting in today.)
I will be taking Kyle with me to vote and participate in the caucus and for him to experience the voting process. In fact, several people from the Houston area will be updating their twitter stream with results from their area caucuses (cauci?).
I saw several stories on the news of children participating in mock primaries at school to help them understand the political process. I remember voting in elementary school during the presidential elections but I cannot remember who won. I think the news coverage this year has been extensive; therefore, it's probably impossible for children to not be aware of campaign issues. Good Morning America had a great segment this morning featuring 7- and 8-year-olds discussing the election and I was blown away by how informed these kids are.
What about you? Do you take your children to the polls with you? If you live in Texas, are you going to take them with you to the caucus? Will you be taking them with you to vote in November?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
the goddess anna 3-04-2008 @ 3:47PM
I know I've said this before, but I think it's important to involve kids in the voting process. I take mine with me to the polls every time, whether it's just a local election or the big time.
Btw, it's not like you haven't made it known you were voting Democrat - you've mentioned taking your son to an Obama rally. It's obvious, but thank you for acknowledging it.
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kim 3-04-2008 @ 3:51PM
I have had a kid with me, usually strapped to me!, every time I have voted since my first child arrived in April, 2005. Not only is it good to get them in the civic habit, the poll ladies are soooo much nicer to me when I have a baby along.
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Rose 3-04-2008 @ 4:16PM
Always, and we try to discuss politics often in front of/with the kids (as nicely as possible). My husband works as an election judge at our polling place so we take turns voting. Most of the ladies there are older and from our church/school so they love to visit with the kids too.
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Judy 3-04-2008 @ 6:26PM
My daughter was born when I was 17; I turned 18 in the year of a presidential election (1996). I don't think I've ever voted *without* a child with me.
I voted earlier in the Texas primary (for Obama, thankyouverymuch), and had both of my sons with me. Obviously, the 22-month-old doesn't get it at all, but I've been explaining it as much as I can to my nearly 4-yo, and he's starting to get curious.
I don't think I can make it to the caucus, because the 4 yo has a class tonight. :( The place of his class is a polling place, but they changed the precincts, and so it's not *our* polling place anymore. I'm still new to the state, though, and a little confused over the whole process!!!
One thing that disappoints me is that my daughter now lives with her dad, and I don't think he has ever voted in his life. I know in 96, when I was so eager to vote, he thought it was ridiculous. We lived in Alaska at the time, and by the time he got home from work and we made it to the place to vote, the presidential election had already been decided. Voting was something I had looked forward to all my life, and I wasn't going to give that up.
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ame s 3-04-2008 @ 9:37PM
I do take mine with me. My polling place is our school gym! We still do the punchcard system, which they found facinating when they were younger.
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Cara 3-05-2008 @ 12:35AM
My kids are 1 and 2 1/2, so neither of them are old enough to know what's going on. But because my husband had to work until midnight tonight, I had to take them with me if I wanted to attend the caucus. It was pretty ok, but it didn't start until almost 9pm because we had to wait for everyone to finish voting. And I felt like I was irritating people because I had my kids in a double stroller with me. Well, hello? I'm not going to carry them for 2 hours!
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Karen 3-05-2008 @ 2:04AM
I always take the kids with me to vote and am proud to have never missed voting since DS#1 was born 13 yrs ago. I let them pull the levers and explain everything as I go. Now that we are going to computerized voting this may be a bit more difficult, but I'm determined to get them involved and hope they will vote regularly when they are older.
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Ann Adams 3-05-2008 @ 9:41AM
I took them for years until we began voting permanent absentee.
I sat there last night listening to a description of the TX system, Trish. Wow!!
The next several weeks are going to be interesting.
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Heather 3-05-2008 @ 9:58AM
We usually walk to our polling place with our 2 and 6 year old sons. It's a family affair and they enjoy greeting everyone and are always given an "I voted today" sticker to wear. The 6 year old goes into the voting booth with us and has the job of pulling the lever that closes the curtain, now that he's tall enough to reach it. Fun!
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meredith 3-05-2008 @ 9:28PM
My 5 year old have voted with me in every election since she was born. We talk about how important it is to vote and she gets to press the "VOTE" button on those fancy new electronic machines.
For now, she knows that we are voting for the 'boss of America' and that is good enough right now. She knows that there is a woman and why that is important. I have not talked to her about why Obama is important, but that is because we are just getting into boy vs girl.
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