I Voted Early

Americans shouldn’t take their voting rights for granted. Soldiers have died so that we have the freedom to choose our leaders. Since becoming a Christian in 1991, I’ve made it a point to vote in every presidential election. Billy Graham once said, “It is the duty of every individual Christian at election time to study the issues and candidates and then go to the polls and vote.” We have a responsibility to elect politicians who enact policies in line with Scripture.

Some individuals don’t like standing in long lines to cast their ballot. Yet they will do so to buy tickets to a rock concert or a sporting event. On Election Day 1992, I had to work during business hours and attend an evening meeting. So I voted early a few days before. Back then I lived in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. I remember walking into City Hall to cast my ballot and saw Jesse Ventura there. He was mayor of the city then but six years later became governor.


Due to my travels as a missionary, I’ve often requested an absentee ballot. In 2012 and 2016 when my ballots arrived in the mail, I also received letters from the Democratic Party claiming the Republicans “don’t want my vote to count” and sent instructions on how I should vote. That was odd considering I’ve never voted for a Democrat.


For the next presidential election, coronavirus fears prompted states to encourage mail-in voting. That should have been available only to those who requested a ballot. I’m registered to vote in Virginia but spent most of 2020 doing the Lord’s work in the Minneapolis area. Although I put in a request for an absentee ballot the day they became available, a month passed without it showing up in the mail. I called election officials. They instructed me to go online and request another ballot, which arrived two weeks before Election Day. I quickly filled that out and mailed it back to Virginia.


To prevent the possibility of not receiving a ballot for this year’s election, I made it a point to be in Virginia when early voting began two days ago. Originally my host Jim and I showed up at Fairfax City Hall where there was hardly a line of people. One woman promoting the Democratic Party tried to give me instructions on voting. I firmly told her, “I don’t vote for baby killers.” Soon we discovered Jim's address required us to vote at another government center. There we waited for about a half hour in a much longer line of people.to enter the building. Before feeding my ballot into a machine, I prayed over it so that my vote could be counted accurately.


When I returned outside, I felt led to give out gospel tracts to a few people including two men and two women promoting the Harris-Walz ticket. The two women quickly returned their tracts when they discovered what was in their hands. I told them, “Eternity is a long time to be wrong.” 


The Bible commands us to pray for and submit to our authorities. It would be a lot easier to do that if more Americans make godly decisions when choosing their political leaders and especially their eternal destiny. 


“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants my live” - Deuteronomy 30:19

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