Today I took advantage of my civil liberty and voted. This actually took place accidentally, not intentionally. I had planned on voting next week at the early polling stations at the hospital. I even had the day of the week picked out for when I next worked. But, alas, this was not the case.
My overtime was cancelled at 11am so I had a day ahead of me with no real plans. I had some library books in my car that needed to be returned (yes, I make frequent use of my local free services) so thought I'd swing by and drop those off and pick up some new. As I rounded the corner of the main entrance my eyes saw the polling booths and tables set up, filled with other enthusiastic Americans.
As a side note, why is it a requirement to be over 70 to run the polling stations? I mean, here we are in a college town, located in the ped mall, in the heart of campus and the only individuals running the station are retired teachers and veterans. (I know because I asked...tactfully). As another side note, did you know that they are required by law to go over the ballot with the voter and provide non-biased information? True enough (I found this out when in my exuberance to get to my booth and told the nice lady that I knew what I was doing, for which I was interrupted and told that she HAD to explain the procedure because it was the law). Now, I don't know if its actual law, or the laws upheld by dedicated Iowan's who don't want to have Iowa subjected to a situation like Florida had. But hey, they take their job seriously, at one point I was fearful that if I didn't seal the envelope correctly I may be led away in handcuffs. (There was a cop voting 2 booths away...so it could have happened.) Oh, and does anyone else get a little nervous that they didn't entirely fill out the ballot fully and that maybe your vote won't count? Or that the damn bubble seems impossibly large and did I really get it filled correctly? These are serious concerns for serious voters. I hear you laughing at me but you just wait until you're in between the plastic walls of a make shift booth, pencil in hand, giant bubbles filling the page with names of judges and district attorneys you've never heard of but hope if you ever end up in your court you voted for the right one, and you just see if you don't have a feeling of apprehension. Did I mention that I had to use the handicap booth...there was a little anxiety here people!!!
So, I voted. And I have the pin to prove it. 3 minutes of social obligation and I've changed the world. If only...
2 comments:
WOW, we didn't undergo that scenario here in Illinois, just had to produce our driver's license. We're NOT in Cook County, home of the "vote often" philosophy, but due to some questionable registration problems all we had to do is properly identify ourselves. I'm surprised we didn't get kicked out. Rick decided it would be funny to harass me from the adjacent booth. He loudly stated for me not to cheat and look at his ballot! Turnabout is fair play and someday it'll be very sweet!
3 minutes?! It took me 2 hours to vote the other night (In Oregon we have mail-in voting). The state measures killed me.
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