You Have My Vote
Developments in the U.S. and upcoming pivotal elections on Western Europe have heightened our perception of a need not to take democracy for granted. The first requirement for that is to actually vote. But being out on long cycle trips increases the chance of being away when important elections come up.
In 2015, at the time of the Canadian national election, we were in Paris and just could not see a way to vote. That distressed us and particularly our kids, who kept asking why we had not voted. We were proud that they felt like that. But here we are, taking off just in advance of the provincial election here in British Columbia. It seemed at first that we would not be able to vote by mail, because the packages would not arrive before we left. But we requested them anyway, and today a week before departure, they did arrive.
As yet, the candidates are not known, but we are still able to vote on a party basis. The whole thing is not too simple, with the package containing not fewer than three nested envelopes for the ballot to go in to, plus we must sign that we are us, and this must be witnessed. That's OK, we don't want any accusation of fake voting here, right!
Elections have just happened in Netherlands, and the French election will be on while we are there. This will be followed by Germany in September, and maybe Italy. We feel very invested in these elections, because as vulnerable foreigners on bikes in these countries we want to continue to feel that they are welcoming places for all. If these countries swing to xenophobia, we could end up pedalling just in our backyard, which would be a tragedy all around.
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