Turning eighteen this year has opened up many new opportunities in life, possibly the most exciting being able to exercise my right to vote.

At first I was hesitant to vote at all. The local election snuck up on me and I didn’t know much about the candidates. I felt that since it was a smaller scale election, it didn’t really matter and without knowing about the candidates, what was the point? But I remembered there are changes that I can help make with my vote, and that meant a lot to me. 

Preparing myself for the vote wasn’t hard at all; I talked with some friends about candidates, did some research of my own and I was ready to go. 

When I got to the voting location for my local precinct, I had to go through the registration process before receiving my ballot. I also had to listen to the short explanation of ranked choice voting, the new system of voting that had been implemented this year. The election judges were extremely helpful and explained to me how to fill out the ballot. I was lucky enough to have a very quick experience despite needing to register myself as a voter. At the ballot box, I filled in my choices and finished up. I felt fulfilled when I put my ballot into the scanner and received my very own “I Voted” sticker along with a small booklet with details of the 2020 election. 

Some people choose not to vote in local elections because it represents a smaller scale of change, but big things start small, which is something that helped me decide to vote.