Yea/Nay

During the earlier years of my life, around election time, I would ask my mother which presidential candidate she voted for on the previous Tuesday.  Her response always indicated that it was a privilege given to every voter to keep that information private or to proclaim to the rest of the world, whichever they saw fit.  In my current body of work, I am hoping to open a discussion concerning that issue.  The voting statistics bombard the public in figures, graphs, and analyses across the country months before and after Election Day.  When the day finally comes, each voter steps into a private booth to cast a vote that will collectively determine not only their own future, but also the entire country’s.  They leave the location with a non-partisan sticker on their lapel, professing to the world that they are part of a giant coalition who participated in their nation’s future vitality.  Some people will practically yell their choice of candidates to you, while others do just the opposite by keeping it locked in their heads.  Of course, there are many voters who fall somewhere in between these spectrum bookends, by lying about their vote or abstinence from voting altogether.  I feel that this issue does not associate well with this country’s approach to such a public and potent situation.  I see it as a centrifugal habit that is leaving us in the dark as well as acting as a retardant toward our nation’s progress.