What It's Like for Me to Vote With Low Vision

I did it. I voted yesterday and I’m so glad I did. I was doing my chores this morning while thinking about what to write about regarding my low vision. It takes some thought because I have lived with it all my life. How I approach situations and cope is not anything new for me. I realized suddenly that yesterday I was faced with a challenge that is worthy of writing about. I voted.

Many people vote. It’s not about who I voted for or what policies I support. It’s how I voted. A sighted person would walk in, stand in line, be directed to a booth, vote, and leave. It isn’t so simple for me. My husband and I walked into the voting precinct yesterday and there were logistics I needed to think through. The line was fairly long and the room beyond the line was a blur to me. I knew there was a table to the left of the front of the line. I did not know until I was up in front whether there were one or two people manning the table.

The first thing I did was ask my husband to get behind me so he could tell me when it was my turn to approach the table. As we waited in line, I heard a man at the table asking each person whether they were voting Democrat or Republican. This made me uncomfortable because voting is a personal and private thing for me. I don’t want to share my views
with strangers.

When my husband told me it was my turn, I walked over to the table and saw there were two people manning it. The man asked me, “Democrat or Republican?” I answered and he told me booth #2. Um, OK. Booth two. He must have realized I could not see well and told me the man behind me could help me. He led the way.

I walked out and found my husband just outside the door. We walked away talking about the ballot and politics. You know, the important stuff. I am not writing about this particular point of my day for sympathy. It’s just an observance of something I normally don’t consider to be different or out of the ordinary, but when I sit and think about it, it would be for most.