Yesterday, I mailed my ballot. At my age, approaching 92, I no longer drive. Mailing my ballot is not simply a matter of convenience. It is a necessity that allows me to continue exercising one of my most important rights as an American citizen: the right to vote.
I live at The Heritage Downtown, a senior living community in Walnut Creek, California. Although I live alone, I am not lonely. I continue to play bridge, write my blogs, follow the news, and take an interest in what is happening in our country and around the world.
Growing older may limit some of our physical activities, but it should not mean giving up our voice in the affairs of our nation.
Today, however, two news stories caught my attention. One concerned the growing number of Americans who have already voted in the upcoming November 2026 elections. The other, reported in the news, concerned Americans turning to artificial intelligence, or AI, for help in deciding which candidates deserve their votes.
The second story made me stop and think.
How Does Voting Work in America?
For my readers outside the United States, let me briefly explain the American electoral process.
The United States is a representative democracy. Citizens who are eligible to vote choose people to represent them in government. Depending on the election, they may vote for a president, members of Congress, state officials, local leaders, judges, or other positions. They may also vote on specific proposals called ballot measures.
The United States has elections at several levels of government. Federal elections concern the national government, state elections concern individual states, and local elections may determine who governs a city, county, or school district.
In November 2026, Americans will participate in the midterm elections. These elections take place halfway through a president's four-year term. Voters will elect all 435 members of the House of Representatives and approximately one-third of the United States Senate, along with many state and local officials.
Unlike countries where elections are conducted through a single national system, American elections are administered largely by individual states and local election officials. Rules concerning voter registration, identification, mail ballots, and deadlines can therefore differ from one state to another.
There are several ways Americans can vote.
Some go to a polling place on Election Day. Others vote in person before Election Day through a process called early voting. Many voters, including senior citizens like me, use mail-in ballots.
A mail-in ballot allows an eligible voter to receive a ballot, mark the choices privately, and return it according to the state's rules. Depending on the state, it may be returned through the postal service, placed in an authorized ballot drop box, or delivered to an election office.
For people who no longer drive, have mobility difficulties, or cannot easily stand in line, voting by mail can make participation in democracy much more accessible.
I mailed my ballot yesterday because I want my voice to be heard, even though I can no longer drive myself to a polling place.
Millions of Americans Are Voting Early
News reports this week described millions of Americans already casting their ballots before Election Day.
According to a report published on October 21, approximately 14.3 million Americans had voted in the 2026 general election at that point. About 9.1 million had voted by mail and 5.2 million had voted in person before Election Day.
These figures are an early snapshot, not the final national total. They show that Americans do not all wait until Election Day to exercise their voting rights.
For me, the important point is not which candidate or political party receives the most votes. It is that citizens have an opportunity to participate in deciding the future of their country.
Democracy depends not only on the people who run for public office but also on ordinary citizens who take the time to vote.
When Artificial Intelligence Enters the Voting Booth
The other news story surprised me even more.
Some Americans are asking AI chatbots to help them decide whom to vote for. They may ask a chatbot to compare candidates, explain their positions on important issues, examine their professional backgrounds, or even recommend which candidate they should support.
A Pew Research Center survey published on October 23, 2026, offers some useful perspective. Among American adults surveyed, 8 percent said they were using AI chatbots for information related to the 2026 elections.
Among those using AI for election information, many wanted to learn where candidates stood on issues or check the accuracy of claims they had heard. Forty percent of this group said they had used chatbots for suggestions about how to make their voting choices.
These findings suggest that AI is becoming another source of election information, although most Americans are not yet using it for that purpose.
I can understand why people might turn to AI. American ballots can be complicated. A voter may face several candidates for different offices, each presenting promises and arguments. There may also be ballot measures written in language that is difficult to understand.
AI can explain unfamiliar terms, summarize a candidate's stated policies, and help compare different positions. Used carefully, it can help citizens become better informed.
But there is an important difference between asking AI to explain the choices and asking AI to make the choice for us.
I Ask AI to Help Me Write, Not to Decide My Vote
I have been using AI to help me write my blogs for readers around the world.
I write about my experiences growing up in the Philippines, my years as a pharmaceutical chemist, my late wife Macrine, my Catholic faith, aging, science, and the many changes I have witnessed during my lifetime.
Sometimes I ask AI to explain a scientific discovery in simpler language. At other times, I ask it to help organize my thoughts or make an article easier for readers whose first language is not English.
I find this particularly useful because my readers come from many countries and backgrounds. I want them to understand my stories without having to struggle with complicated English.
Nevertheless, the experiences and opinions expressed in my blogs are mine. AI can help me communicate them, but it cannot replace the memories, values, and personal reflections that make them my own.
The same principle applies to voting.
I would ask AI to explain a candidate's position, but I would not ask AI to tell me whom to vote for. Why?
Because voting is not merely a mathematical exercise in which a computer compares several names and announces a winner. It is a personal decision involving our values, our experiences, our hopes for the future, and our understanding of the responsibilities of government.
Two intelligent people can examine the same facts and reach different conclusions. One may place greater importance on the economy, another on health care, and another on education, immigration, the environment, or the country's international responsibilities.
There is no reason to assume that an AI chatbot understands an individual's priorities better than that individual does.
Can We Trust Artificial Intelligence?
As a retired pharmaceutical chemist who spent many years working with scientific information, I have learned to distinguish between a claim and the evidence supporting it.
AI is an impressive technology, but it is not infallible.
It can provide outdated information, misunderstand a question, overlook important details, or present an incorrect statement in convincing language. Its responses can also be influenced by the information available to it and the way a question is framed.
Political information presents particular challenges. Candidates may change their positions, campaign advertisements may contain misleading claims, and different sources may describe the same event in different ways.
An AI-generated summary may sound balanced without necessarily giving equal attention to all the facts that matter.
Therefore, anyone using AI to research an election should check its claims against reliable sources, including official election websites, candidate statements, reputable news organizations, and independent fact-checking services.
AI can help us find and understand information. It should not become our only source of information.
And we should be especially cautious when a chatbot gives us the answer we already want to hear. Agreement can be comforting, but it is not proof that we are correct.
The Ballot Is Mine, and the Responsibility Is Mine
As I approach my 92nd birthday, I have lived through many political changes, technological advances, and international events.
I have seen the world change from an era when information traveled slowly to one in which a person can ask a computer a question and receive an answer within seconds.
This is progress, and I welcome many of its benefits.
Yet some responsibilities should remain firmly in human hands.
My ballot represents my judgment as a citizen. I may seek information from newspapers, television, conversations with other people, official documents, and even artificial intelligence. But after considering the available evidence, the final decision belongs to me.
I do not expect every reader to agree with my approach. Some may find AI useful in narrowing their choices. Others may prefer to study the candidates entirely on their own.
What matters is that we remain thoughtful, independent, and willing to examine the evidence before making a decision.
In a democracy, we should not surrender our judgment simply because a machine can produce an answer quickly.
Yesterday, I mailed my ballot. I did so because I still believe that my voice matters, even at nearly 92.
I may need a cane to walk, help with some computer tasks, and the assistance of my children for certain errands. But I can still think, reflect, and make my own decisions.
That is a privilege I do not take for granted.
A Final Reflection
Technology can help us write our stories, understand complicated subjects, and communicate with people across the world. It can also help us become better-informed voters.
But technology should assist our judgment, not replace it.
I will continue asking AI to help me write about the world I have experienced and the lessons I have learned. When it comes to voting, however, I believe the responsibility must remain my own.
My ballot carries my name, my conscience, and my responsibility as a citizen. No machine should cast my judgment for me.
At nearly 92, I have learned that growing older does not mean surrendering the right to think for ourselves.
And perhaps that is one of the most important lessons we can pass on to the next generation.
Until my next blog, may we use the gifts of technology wisely, preserve our independence of thought, and never forget the value of a single human voice.
Suggested References :
AI Impressions and Notes on this Topic:
This is an excellent subject for your David At Nearing 92 blog. Your personal experience of mailing your ballot gives the article a human touch, while the question of asking artificial intelligence for voting advice raises an important issue for our time: AI can help us understand the world, but should it decide how we vote?
For your worldwide readers, I have explain the American voting process in simple language, compare your use of AI for blogging with using AI to choose candidates, and emphasize the importance of personal judgment and civic responsibility.
Editorial note: I have treated the early-voting figures as a dated snapshot, rather than a final count. The published figures I found for October 21 were approximately 9.1 million mail ballots and 5.2 million early in-person votes.
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