I voted - did you?

I cannot stand politics.  I hate the one-up-man-ship, the point-scoring, the nasty attacks on the other parties... but I vote.

I vote for lots of reasons.  I vote because I don't think you have the right to complain if you don't vote.  I vote because that is my official voice.  I vote in mind of all the millions of people who cannot vote in their country.

But there is one overwhelming reason I vote.

When my grandmother was born, in this country, women did not have the right to vote.

Women were not considered persons under the law.

Her mother, her aunts, her grandmothers were all powerless.  They had no voice.  They were not considered persons under the law.

I vote in honour of them, and for those women (and men) who stood up to the system, and demanded to be counted.

I vote in honour of them, because not voting belittles their memory and their fight.

I vote because I AM a person under the law, and I have those women to thank for my freedom.

I vote.  Do you?