So you ask me why I vote.  Oh please, what a ridiculous question.  I have never NOT voted.  Since I turned 18, I have turned up at my local polling place, wherever it was (and now I vote from abroad: https://www.votefromabroad.org).

I am a first generation American.  My parents are from the Middle East, and they always set an example of going to the polls for every election.  I grew up in Chicago, and you might want to say, “Why bother?  Chicago is a totally Democratic city, and your vote won’t count.”  Oh, no?  Each time I left the voting booth, my chest filled with pride.

You see, my parents never got the opportunity to vote in their native countries.  Both are from countries with autocratic governments.  My mother, being a woman, never had the right to vote.

So, now ask me why do I vote?  And I say, DON’T ASK ME THAT RIDICULOUS QUESTION.  I vote because I have to, and I am damned proud of it.