"Express" Your Vote

So today I voted thanks to FedEx and the Overseas Vote Foundation. Turns out, you can vote from your current residence abroad by sending in your ballot from any conveniently located FedEx branch.

Sounded easy enough to me and my friend Marc as embarked on our mission to "make democracy work." Forgetting that nothing is convenient in this city for foreigners, I figured that I could fulfill my civic duty and still be back before lunchtime. Not so much.

We found the nearest FedEx branch pretty easily. It was like a little piece of America welcoming us with open arms. However, they informed us in broken English don't do this exact service. Ok, and all we had to do next was take a bus about 30 minutes north to another location. At this point, you can probably imagine my annoyance. "What do you mean you don't do this?!? Its already paid for- just ship it with the rest of your stuff. Really, really?"

Thanks to our good ole American tenacity we persevered. Marc and I were resolute in our desire to exercise our RIGHT to vote- and vote with as little monetary cost as possible. See, in my mind, paying for an taxi in order to mail my ballot seemed to violate the very foundations of democracy- we don't PAY to vote, right? Right.

So we jumped on the cheap bus north to the elusive FedEx branch with the magical powers to send my ballot abroad that other branches simply do not possess. After wandering around a bunch of corporate complexes, we finally found the right building, and around the backside was a FedEx loading dock- yes loading dock- and a small "World Connection Center" sign. Success! After all the obstacles, and about 2 and a half hours, we beat the system!

And then we voted. And that was it. All that work for one vote. At that victorious moment, I remembered my my political science classes. It's completely irrational to vote. All the work of taking time off, traveling there... the cost to citizens to vote is greater than the benefit derived from one vote. One vote won't change an election. When considering our odyssey, I felt we were pretty foolish. 

Still, I have no regrets for voting, it's more about the principle. While traveling, I have met many people who don't have the freedoms I enjoy on a daily basis, or some have endured much much worse for this privilege. With a better perspective (and food in my stomach), the little "inconveniences" I endured pale in comparison. The fact of the matter is, I am willing to sacrifice to vote- and just the fact that I have the right to vote is enough to make my long day worth it. Oh, and be I sure won't complain for standing in line in 2010!