Off Topic – Voting
Nov 4th, 2008 by Sandra
I’m not going to ask anyone who they voted for or say who I voted for – that’s one of the great rights we Americans have. But, I wanted to comment on how special it is to go out and vote. I could have done the absentee ballot (due to an injury to my leg) or even done early voting, but I like the feeling of going out with a few hundred of my neighbors to the local polling place. I was up at 6 am and by the time I got breakfast and drove around a bit, debating on the filled parking lot, but I finally decided that it would be too tempting to not come back out again later in the day. So, despite the stairs and my knee giving me fits lately, I dug out my cane and took a step at a time. My precinct had things set up very well with five people to look up your name based on the last letter of your name. No waiting in line! But, once I got my ballot there was a line of abut a dozen or so people. The very sweet gentleman who is always there to help put the ballot through the optical scanner came up to me and suggested I sit down and said this very nice lady (in line in front of me) will hold your place for you and give you a call when she’s at the front of the line. The line moved very fast and I only had to sit down (which my knee appreciated) for about ten minutes. When she was up at the front of the line I went up to try to stand behind her and she insisted I go before her.
Then I filled in the ovals on the ballot, went over to the kindly gentleman who instructed me into how to insert my ballot in the optical scanner. I have to say I don’t know why everyone doesn’t do things this way. There’s a mechanical tabulation but there’s also the actual paper ballot. He handed me “I Voted Today” sticker and I made way down the stairs and to my car.
It is such a fantastic feeling to know that I went out and voted. There’s a great sense of the larger community that you know millions of fellow citizens are out voting. It is a right to be excercised and to be very much cherished.
I hope you will get out and vote – no matter who it’s for.