If Shelby Dangerfield were an adult in Iraq today, she would risk her life for the chance to vote.
Because she is a 10-year-old Billings girl, Shelby won't be going to the polls. But she will be will be showing her support by wearing ink on her finger - just like those Iraqis who have voted.
"It will symbolize our support if we wear ink on our fingers," Shelby said. "We're not forcing them to vote, but they have a chance to do it and they should take that chance."
Shelby said Saturday afternoon she hoped to set up a stand at Rimrock Mall today where people could sign their names and roll their fingers on a stamp pad, but her plans were not yet inked.
She'd love to wake up Monday morning and see people around the United States with blue index fingers.
"Do you have your blue ink?" she asked. "It's food for thought."
Although Shelby seems young to be keen to politics, her parents, Robin and Tracy Dangerfield, said they already have political conversations around the dinner table. Her maternal grandfather was a "good Democrat" and her uncle, Pat Davidson, ran last year as a gubernatorial candidate with the GOP, which caused Shelby to refer to that "strong Republican" side of her family.
"Politics is interesting," Shelby said. Whether a person is Republican, Democrat or Green Party, Shelby said she likes "the idea that we can be separated into our own groups and have the free ability to decide which one we want to be."
Tracy Dangerfield is a self-described "news junkie," so Shelby and her sister, Syndey, 8, receive a daily dose of current events. They also learn about the world when missionary work is discussed at their church, Faith Chapel.
"Global awareness is so important," Tracy Dangerfield said. "The sooner you understand it's a big world the better off you're going to be as an adult."
Shelby said her first ideas about supporting the Iraqi vote came during a spelling lesson at school. Her teacher at Trinity Lutheran School sometimes sparks ideas and "one thing starts off with another thing and we get into a big conversation," the fifth-grader said.
One conversation centered on how potential voters in Iraq had their lives threatened. That made the kids wonder, Shelby said, how would anyone know who voted? The ink on their fingers, meant to ensure people only cast one ballot, would be telltale and could be a dead giveaway for days to come.
"You don't just go home and wash the ink off; it's going to be there for a while," Shelby said.
The ink will also symbolize that people had the courage to vote and were proud of it, she said. Americans complain about standing in line and waiting to vote; however, they don't seem to realize how lucky they are to be safe while standing in those lines and to be able to vote for personal rights, good schools and secure futures for their children, Shelby said.
"We take it for granted," she said about voting. "It's very important for women to be getting to vote. They risk their lives for themselves and their families.
"Usually, how they decide the leader is whoever shoots the most people and whoever has the most guns."
JAMES WOODCOCK/Gazette Staff