I has a sticker!

One of my vivid memories of the electoral process as a kid was when my mom would take me with her to vote. I remember it because she always would get two of the "I voted today" stickers, one for me, and one for her. Looking back, it was as if she was demonstrating to me, even at an early age, the importance she placed on voting. So every time I go vote today, I still look forward to getting that sticker, and I faithfully put it on my t-shirt, just like I did when I was four.

Voting today was somewhat less of an ordeal than voting in the primary. My polling location is at an elementary school on the not-so-nice side of town. Let's just say I am deeply in the ethnic minority there. In the last presidential election, I made it to the polls after work, about a half an hour before the polls closed, and was stupefied when a DNC campaigner held the door open for me to go in! During this years' primaries, it was clear that the polling personnel had no clue what they were doing, as they struggled to find me on their lists, then tried to make me vote on a Democratic ballot, then tried to tell me that if I voted in the Republican primary, that I could only vote for Republicans in November. Insert face into palm and sigh deeply...

Today wasn't so bad. I didn't endure any of the lines that are being reported nationally, and the poll worker found my registration without incident. My voting machine worked as advertised, and I appreciated the slight upgrades in the software they appear to have made since the last election. If anyone claims that these machines are confusing now, they don't need to be voting (or driving, or dressing themselves) in the first place. The Obama supporters were an adequate distance from the polling center, handing out stickers on the street in front of the school. The worst distraction I experienced was when the school children came in from recess while I was voting, and started singing the Barney song. I hate hearing about all that love and harmony while I'm voting against a school levy...

Stay tuned throughout the day to this blog and Worldview for live blogging throughout the day (and well into the night, I'd guess).

~Cephas
THE FREE RADICAL