Current Events 004: “A more perfect union”: thoughts on the election

I went to vote on Tuesday. Many people did. And as I cast my vote, I remembered something that happened a very, very long time ago - almost too long ago to remember, something that almost seems as if it were from a different life.

I was a child growing up in the Soviet Union. It was an election day there as well. I was too young to vote, but an election day was a big deal, and I recall that very clearly.

“All [go] to the election! All [go] to the common celebration of our free Motherland!”

It was late in the evening; my parents had come home from work and were talking about getting ready to go to the polling place before it closed. The place was very close - only about 300 meters-or-so away, at the school where I attended.

While they were talking about it and getting dressed, our doorbell rang. It was the police officer assigned to our precinct. No, he was not rude, he did not shove an AK47 into my parents’ faces. It was our local guy whom we all knew. In fact, I remember him being very polite and professional. Nonetheless, the police came to our door because my parents had not yet voted, and the place was about to close. They had to go.