Conservative Culture

It was her first primary vote as an American  Citizen (yes the wording in the news article is poorly written… leaves the impression she voted as a non-citizen). To combat the illegal immigration we need more positive stories on how proud some are to actually become citizens in America. From Allen County comes one such story.

CRIDERSVILLE — Cris Wildermuth, of Cridersville, took her new responsibility to heart. She voted in her first presidential primary election as a U.S. citizen on Tuesday.

Wildermuth is married to Mel Wildermuth. She is originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. During her childhood, Brazil was under a dictatorship until 1989. She voted for the first time in Brazil for the new democracy. She then met Wildermuth and was whisked away to the United States. They married in 1992.

She maintained her citizenship, but was unable to vote in presidential elections. In Brazil, it is mandatory that you vote. In order for Cris Wildermuth to vote, she would have had to travel to Washington, D.C., and gone to the Brazilian embassy to cast her vote. The Wildermuths ended up paying a small fine for her penalty of not voting.

Fast forward to Dec. 15, 2006, and Cris Wildermuth took her oath to be an American citizen.

She read articles on the presidential candidates, watched the debates and listened to the news. She did not want her first vote to be a gut vote. She took her privilege seriously.

Mel Wildermuth said, “We were pretty excited.” He took the camera for this auspicious event. He said Cris Wildermuth “wore her badge proudly,” speaking of the “I voted today” stick-on badge. It was “truly a historic moment.”

It was “way cool,” Cris Wildermuth said. “At first it was very exciting for me too vote again. This was like only the third time in my life I got to vote. I think growing up in a dictatorship, you don’t take democracy for granted. I really value talking about politics. For me being able to openly say what I think is exciting. Becoming a citizen and being able to vote made me feel like I really belong. OK, now I am an American.”