Midterm Elections 2022

"Mommy, what were you and mama voting for?" Kate asked when she saw her mommies' 'I Voted' sticker on their clothes.

"Kate, every few years there are multiple people who are running to fill one of the elected positions in our government, both local and federal and also several items that need to be voted on."

"Well, how come I can't vote? I want to vote." Kate asked. Maura loved how enthusiastic she was about voting.

Maura and Kate sat down on the couch and Maura explained, "In the United States the voting age is 18. Some states allow you to pre-register at the age of 16. Massachusetts is one of those states. You may pre-register at the age of 16 but you cannot vote until you turn 18."

"Why would I pre-register if I cannot vote?" Kate asked.

"M.G.L.A. 51 ยง 47A states 'No pre-registrant shall be allowed to vote until the pre-registrant obtains full age unless otherwise permitted by law.' That last part is why it is important to pre-register to vote. There may come a time when a special election is being held and the governing body may deem that pre-registrants may vote in the special election."

"That all sounds confusing mommy."

"It is for quite a few people. Only a percentage of registered voters vote."

"But if you are register and able to vote, why wouldn't you vote, mommy?"

"That my dear is a question many politicians are government officials are trying to figure out."

"How do you know who to vote for?" Kate asked.

"You have to do your research. You have to look at each candidate and see what they believe in. See if they match your values. Some voters are registered in one of the political parties and they vote that way no matter who is running against them. Other voters vote for the person and not the party. It really is an individual choice. Mama and I do not discuss politics. We each do our own research on the candidates. I am not saying we do not discuss people or issues. Sometimes we have questions and we may talk to each other about it. We talk in such a fashion as to not to try to persuade someone's vote but rather to educate each other on the person or issue. Does that make sense?"

"Yes, mommy." Kate said.

"I did that mommy." MJ stated as he walked in on the end of the conversation. "I researched the candidates and filled out a sample ballot as if I were going to go vote. I know I am too young to vote but I felt I am never too young to learn and understand the process. My teacher said they are not allowed to give their opinion about candidates or issues but they were allowed to explain the issues on the ballot. This year there are four questions so we did pros and cons on all four questions. She wanted us to understand what our vote would mean. I enjoyed the assignment and I learned a great deal. When I am able to vote I feel I will be able to make an educated decision."

"That is great MJ. I am glad your teacher took the time to teach you that. Was that part of your social studies class?" Maura asked her eldest son.

"Yes, mommy. She said that voting is very important and she felt as an educator it was part of her job to make sure that we understood how to decide who and what we vote for. She had to have her curriculum approved by the school board before she could teach this lesson to us. She told us that she hopes that we will continue to review all of the candidates and issues that are placed on the ballot."

"Mommy, am I going to learn something like that when I am in MJ's grade?" Kate asked, she wanted to learn about it now. She didn't like waiting.

"I hope so sweetie, if you don't, your mama and I will teach you as that is part of our job." Maura said as Jane and AJ and Lilly walked into the room. Maura was sitting on the couch with MJ on one side and Kate on the other.

"What are the three of you talking about?" Jane asked as she sat across from them.

"Kate was asking me what I voted for as she noticed my sticker. So, we were talking about the voting process and how you had to be 18 to vote. MJ explained his class assignment."

Jane wanted to hear about MJ's class assignment, "MJ could you tell me about your class assignment? I would love to hear about it."

MJ spent the next ten minutes explaining his class assignment to his mama. He had his mama set up the laptop so he could project onto the TV. He said the first step was to pull up the list of candidates running for the office that you would like to look at.

He pulled up the list of candidates for the office of Governor. He noted that there were three candidates. He then brought up a list of questions that he had developed to cover the issues that he would like to know their stance on.

He walked his family through the process of where he would find out this information and how he would list their answers on the chart he had developed to assist him. Before he started, he listed his stance on each of the questions. Once he had finished his research on the candidates and filled out his chart, he then compared his responses to that of the candidates and found the candidate that best matched his stance on the issues.

He repeated this process for each office on the ballot. It was a time-consuming process. He found it to be very enlightening. He didn't share every office with his family just the Governor. He didn't tell them who he would vote for as he didn't share his completed chart. He showed them the blank chart. He told his family that who he would vote for is a private decision and he wouldn't want to influence anyone's decision making process.

Jane and Maura were quite impressed with his thought process. At only eight years old MJ was highly intelligent and had a firm grasp on the election process. Kate, AJ and Lilly were also impressed and wanted to use his chart and do some research. Jane just shook her head, only she and Maura could raise such brainiacs for children.

After dinner they spent the evening sitting watching election results as they ate popcorn. Jane had never had so much fun watching election results. She had always thought it was boring. She normally would just wake up the next morning and check the Internet or watch TV to find out who had won.

This year she would stay up with her family and watch the results come in until it was time for the children to go to bed. They had let them stay up until 11 PM, much later than they had ever let them stay up on a school night, but this was a special time, elections normally only occurred every two years.

They felt that this was an important life lesson. They wanted to do their part to make sure when their children were old enough to vote they would be prepared with the knowledge of how to decide who to vote for.

Jane wished she would have thought about doing this when she was younger. She eventually did come up with a system for deciding who to vote for but it was not as thorough as MJ's, she was so proud of him.

She could envision what would happen two years from now in the Rizzoli-Isles household. All six of them sitting around with their charts and computers researching all of the candidates. She can't wait for that to happen. She is looking forward to that day.

Once they put the children to bed, Jane and Maura walked hand in hand to their bedroom. After their night time routine they climbed into bed. Maura was snuggled into Jane's side and Jane told her, "Maur, I love you and I love nights like tonight. Our children are so loving and kind and listen to each other. Thank you for creating this loving family with me." She kissed the top of Maura's head.

Maura replied, "Thank you Jane for agreeing to have this family with me. I love you." With their statements of love expressed they closed their eyes and went to sleep. In the morning they would find out the results of the election.