In America, we have the right to vote for the leaders of our country, as well as state and local officials. We have the right to freely express our personal choice of who we believe will be the best candidate to serve our nation. Some of that is determined on what is needed as a whole, but much of it – if we’re honest with ourselves – is determined by our own personal needs or wants.

In 240 years as a nation, many men AND women have fought boldly for our right to vote. I am forever grateful to these men and women, as well as all who have served in our military, and others who have stood strong to keep this right intact, no matter the cost. I take my right to vote very seriously.

In June, I faced changes in my life that required me to leave the state that I am a registered voter in. My intent was that it would be temporary, however temporary has become a lot longer than expected. As the election grew closer I began to study online what my options were in casting my vote. I could vote by mail, which I had done many times in the state I grew up in.

On October 7, 2016, I completed a Kansas state form to request my ballot by mail. Having not received anything by November 1, I took to communicating by phone. When I spoke to the county clerk’s office I was told that they had never received my request. I suddenly realized that I should have mailed it with a tracking number or required signature of receipt. But I hadn’t. Then, they began to tell me that it appeared I was requesting a Colorado ballot to be mailed to my Kansas box number. Suddenly, I realized, they DID get my request and wondered how long they had it in their possession without acting on it!

I asked her what made her think that I was requesting a Colorado ballot (this was a Kansas state form), and she responded by telling me I had provided a Colorado address in the personal information block. I replied, “Yes, that’s my temporary address.” I continued to explain that I had thought about putting my former Kansas address just to keep it simple, but I didn’t because I no longer lived at that address. I told her that if she looked at the form it stated that the Colorado street address was “temporary” and the ballot was to be mailed to my post office box in Kansas. In addition to that, I pointed out that the signature required at the bottom was preceded with the statement, “I do solemnly affirm under penalty of perjury” that the information I was submitting was true and I was qualified to vote. Putting my old address would have perjured myself. Right? She stuck to her guns about the old address.

After a hesitation, she told me that they had been overnighting some ballots out and she could overnight a ballot to my mailbox. I asked her to clarify that she said “overnight,” not just mailing it because regular mail would cause it to be delayed even longer, possibly never getting it before the election. She repeated, “overnight.” That was Tuesday afternoon.

Wednesday came. No ballot. Thursday came. No ballot. Friday morning, I’m back on the phone. This time I was told they never said “overnight” but they had mailed it to my box. This is a place that can take up to four days to get mail across town! I then called the state office to see what they could do. Nothing! I was doomed. But hope sparked when I got the call from my friend, who said she picked it up Friday morning and was overnighting it to me in Colorado. That was Friday. However, “overnight” meant it wouldn’t be in until Monday morning.

Since we only get mail three days a week out here in the “boonies” of eastern Colorado I traveled 16 miles to pick it up at the local post office. My mom and the postmaster had already had conversations about this ballot so she was waiting for me, however upon my arrival she regretted to tell me that the mail carrier was an hour late, and she would not be able to “overnight” it back to Kansas. She could only do a 2-day express from her office (it’s a small town thing). That meant it would not arrive in Kansas until Wednesday. But all hope was not gone, not yet! I told her it would be fine, I would Google some places to see where I would have to go. At this point, it was either Aurora or Colorado Springs. After making more phone calls, Colorado Springs won out even though it was further.

As soon as the ballot arrived in Lindon, I grabbed it and headed for Colorado Springs. It was all working out because it was not yet noon and I had until 3:00 pm. I arrived in Colorado Springs and got in line at the post office. A gentleman helped me get all the appropriate papers completed and an envelope ready to go. I stepped up to the window and said, “I need to overnight this.” She gave me a very serious look and said, “I can’t guarantee this overnight to this address.” I looked at her rather surprised, and said with firmness, “I called here this morning and they told me you could overnight it. I’ve traveled over 80 miles just to get here!” (Actually, it was 125 but my mind wasn’t recalculating – where is Alexa when you need her?)

I was so discouraged and the line behind me was quite long so you don’t just throw a tantrum. In her apology, she mentioned UPS or FedEx. I just picked up my papers, handed the kind gentleman his pen back, and walked out. Defeated! Then, there was this nudge. This thought that said, “UPS is just down the street. Try it.” So I did – with no hope at all, but I really had nothing to lose! I walked in, showed them my ballot envelope that was pre-addressed and said with very little enthusiasm, “Can you get this to this address by tomorrow?” The service gal, dragging out the response, said, “Yes, but it will cost you.” I said, “I’m fully aware of that!” So, she priced it before she would even tell me anything more. I think she expected me to just walk away, but I said, “Let’s do it.” You see, I’m a stubborn soul – especially when I get backed up against a wall. My stubbornness had kicked in and I was determined to have my right to vote. So I sent my ballot UPS and tracking it today, it arrived at 10:30 am this morning (election day)! I feel accomplished!

I’ve learned some lessons in this process:

• Be more diligent when sending requests such as this. Stay on top of it!
• There are people who aren’t that interested in helping you, but there are many more who will go out of their way to help make it happen. I met some wonderful people along the way who still give me hope in humanity.
• Voting can get expensive! Because of how my request was handled, it cost $23.70 for my friend to send the ballot to me, $57.65 for me to overnight it back to the clerk’s office, $12.60 to fill my tank up with gas (only $1.98/gallon!), and 260 miles traveled to pick it up and get it sent back before returning home late in the evening.
• Voting is a right and a privilege, and no one should be able to take that away from you for any reason! I had the right to vote. I had the right to express my voice in this election and I was going to do whatever it took to accomplish that.

And now, I’m going to go update my voter registration.