“My most memorable time voting was probably in 2012. I had just spent time in Fiji for the UN where there had been a coup and no constitution and I was helping the UN work on a process of transition to a democratically elected government, and I just remember coming home and voting and just feeling the sense that it really is a privilege that we have as Americans—as cliché as that sounds—that we get to do that every four years and it’s not questioned and the results aren’t questioned and we transfer power without violence. I just remember that feeling really powerful to me in that moment.”
– Sara Jacobs, Policy Advisor, Hillary for America
“My most memorable time voting would be helping my mom register to vote, because my mom only recently became an American citizen. My entire family is from Cuba, so helping my mom register to vote was great, because in Cuba you don’t have the opportunity to do that. She left Cuba when she was 15, so this year is going to be her first time ever voting. I think that’s going to be pretty cool. We’re going to see what we can do to try to vote together.”
– Ana Quintana, Policy Analyst, The Heritage Foundation
“I guess my most memorable time voting will be this time, because it’s the first time a female presidential candidate has the nomination. I have a daughter and a son and they’re both quite interested in politics right now. My daughter particularly is very excited about Hillary Clinton, so this will probably be my most exciting time voting.”
– Michele Swers, Professor of American Government, Georgetown University
“My first time voting was probably in college. That’s when I got really interested in politics. I was young and very enthusiastic and not at all jaded yet, and so that was probably the most exciting time, and it was a Republican primary so I felt like my vote mattered.”
– Nachama Soloveichik, Vice President, Cold Spark Media
"I remember helping my mom vote and I really want to encourage parents to bring their young kids and their young girls to see voting and really feel engaged in participating about it, talking about the candidates. The most memorable has to be the first time that my name was on the ballot, and voting for yourself is kind of a surreal experience."
- Senator Cheryl Kagan
"I recall going to the voting booth and stressing with my kids how important it was to exercise their right to vote in this country. To this day, I always ask them if they vote. They were both abroad last year during elections and I nudged them about getting their absentee ballots in. It was pretty difficult for them to do it, where they were at different times, but they both did and it’s something that is really, really important to my family."
- Delegate Shelly Hettleman
"I don’t recall the first time that I voted, but what I do have is a very strong memory of being very focused on the election in 1968, following it very carefully and cheering on for Senator Robert Kennedy in his presidential bid. I was five years old and I was following it very carefully and I remember my mom and I watched until I fell asleep. I fell asleep at some point when the returns came back in California, and I remember in the morning my mom telling me the tragic news that Senator Kennedy had been shot. About that time, we were also helping one of my mom’s good friends run for city council, Adlene Harrison. She’s 92 now and she won her race for council and then eventually became the first woman mayor of Dallas. She is incredibly important to the Dallas community, to the state of Texas, and to the Jewish community. So she has mentored me basically since I was about age five."
- Mayor Allison Silberberg
“My most memorable voting experience didn’t take place at the ballot box, and I wasn’t even the one voting. It was early in November 2012, and I was at my grandmother’s hospital bed in Morristown, N.J. Grandma Agnes was fighting pancreatic cancer and she had grown so weak, she could barely hold a pen let alone go to her local voting center. It was important to her to make her voice heard, so she requested an absentee ballot. When I asked who she wanted to vote for, she told me in a firm but quiet voice, ‘President Obama.’ Grandma Agnes passed away later that month, but her legacy lives on in her family and friends, our memories of her, and the important achievements of the Obama Administration. Grandma Agnes wanted to make sure President Obama got another four years. With her help, he did.”
