Dia de Votacion

Well folks, I have just finished filling arrows on my absentee ballot, thus ensuring that my voice is heard in this year's Illinois election. Now it's just a matter of mailing it in but I think I will wait for the day we travel to the American embassy and see if I can mail it for free from there. But this seems like a perfect opportunity to discuss elections.

Peru had their elections for mayor two weeks ago (Sunday, October 3) and it was pretty cool. When we arrived in country, the political advertisements were everywhere. The most common of said advertisements were wall art like this.

Each candidate has a name (obviously), a party and a symbol. Anyone of these could be referenced in an advertisement. One candidate for instance could advertise simply: "Vote for wheat," - wheat being their symbol. The downside to this could be that a voter does not remember the name of the person for whom they are voting.

Like I said, the vote two weeks ago was for mayor. Each city votes for their mayor but there are also regional mayors. My family then voted for the mayor of Chosica (the nearest large town) and for the mayor of the department of Lima. The voting age here is 18, just like us but one large difference between our political system and Peru's is that here, voting is mandatory for all citizens between 18 and 80. If someone fails to vote, they may be fined. So, one day (Oct. 3) between 8 and 4, everyone has to go to their assigned voting spot, wait in a very very long line and cast their vote for the candidate/symbol/party of their choice.

That voting is mandatory is one difference but there are more similarities. As with any elections, scandal is very present. For instance, there are rumors that the current and re-elected mayor of Chosica is homosexual and/or has AIDS. As far as I have heard, the only reason people believe this is because he is a single man. This has in no way damaged his political career, however, because he has held this office for such a length of time that even Rita Mullins (Palatine people explain this please) would be impressed.

In the race for mayor of Lima, the scandal has a lot more to do with personality and fact than with rumor. The leading candidates were two women and each one had her own schtick. One of the ladies would sing at any of the rallies, the other would always be dancing. However, the dancing candidate in a personal phone call, told her confidant that winning the mayor of Lima didn't matter to her because it wasn't president, the post she really wanted. That conversation was illegally recorded but published anyway and so the favor swayed from the one candidate to the other.

I wish I could tell you who came out on top in their race but they are in fact, still counting votes. The mayor of Choica was decided the night of elections, but the race for mayor of Lima was/is so close that the quick vote was not enough to decide a winner. They are STILL counting the votes! I guess that's what happens when voting is mandatory. That - and you get people voting who don't know what's going on. Well, we get that in the U.S. too but I guess it's less frequent because people who don't know what's going on can just abstain from voting.

As I wrote above, it is mandatory for all Peruvians between 18 and 80 to vote. The elderly I suppose catch a break just in case they become incapable of leaving their homes to vote. Still, the oldest participant in Peru's elections two weeks ago was a one hundred and some years old woman who showed up to her polling place in a wheelchair! That's just impressive in any country.

I wish I had some profound thoughts to wrap up this political blog but alas. My profound thoughts are spent on other cross-cultural comparisons (tune in next time). I just thought it would be interesting for you all to know as you think about casting your votes for your state's future, how this country goes about their democratic process.

Blessings.