Election Day 2008
I so wanted to say that I late voted, but I guess I pretty much on-time voted, even though I feel so twentieth century voting on election day. One of our ballot questions here in Maryland did, however, address the possibility of early voting in our state, so one day soon we, too, might be able to use this trendy compound verb and early vote. (Probably it will happen sooner in Maryland than our chance to use that other trendy compound verb, to gay marry. Alas.)
At the polling place I've used every election for the past 10 years, the line was the longest I have ever seen, and I don't mean a little longer, I mean 5 to 6 times longer, stretching out of the hall, across the porch, down the front sidewalk, across the length of the sidewalk in front of the building and around the corner to the parking lot, a parking lot that was unusually ineffectual with so many people arriving to vote. However, our line moved continually and I was done in an hour. I called Isaac and he said that the line had been half again longer when he was there early in the morning.
As I think I always write on election day, I love seeing the diversity of young and old and every ethnic persuasion who show up to participate in democracy. The evening news loves to show these groups of people at each other's throats over contentious political issues, but today everyone was in a good mood and talked to their neighbors-in-line about matters of common interest to neighbors-in-fact.
It was a celebration today, despite the light rain when I was there mid-morning. People were in a festive mood. Poll workers offered sample ballots and coffee. The woman in front of me had a "porta-seat" with her, one of those three-legged devices that folds up into a cane. She could have made a tidy profit if only she'd been selling them!
As always, I'm pleased to have the little bilingual sticker on my shirt that says "I Voted / Yo Voté".
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on Tuesday, 4 November 2008 at 17.04
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I voted early by absentee ballot, which Washington state has adopted in all but King and Pierce counties. I could've gone to the auditor's office in the county building, but traffic and parking are always a hassle there on weekdays. And voting there wouldn't have been like walking up to the school a block away. That was a pleasant thing, and I'm going to miss it. I think it's also good for the kids to see people showing up to vote, being neighborly and chatting.
Voting by mail, which is what we do now, is undoubtedly cheaper and a big convenience for those who find it hard to take time from work. Still, it undermines people's sense of community and participation.
Sometimes I look ahead to a life made incredibly cheap, efficient and convenient — and dull as dishwater.