I have done my civic duty. It was a pretty pleasurable experience. Happy to say there were NO LINES! Good job for voting early Mount Holly! I had mentioned to my friend Ashley yesterday that if there were two-hour long lines I was going to let Jeremy run around like the wild man he is and if Daniel started crying I was going to whip out the goods and start feeding him while I was standing in line. I figured that might motivate someone to lead me to the front of the line. Hey man, use what you got!
Here are my thoughts on the experience:
1. Is North Carolina red or blue???? I thought we were a republican state. In the past week I have gotten calls from Kay Hagan, Bev Perdue, and just yesterday I got THREE calls from the Barack Obama campaign (one from Belmont believe it or not) asking me if I knew where my polling place was and if I needed a ride to the polls. Did I get a call from a republican? Nooooooooo. I am registered as an independent so I would think I would be getting calls from both. Oh yeah, and at my polling site, there was no republican out there campaigning. Two democrats were canvassing the parking lot asking, "Ma'am, do you need a democratic voters guide?". No thanks.
2. Voting isn't nearly as exciting to Jeremy as I thought it was going to be. Not that I thought it would be terribly exciting. But I was at least hoping Jeremy would think it would be a little cool. There is not much cool about an almost empty parking lot, a lot of older people working the polls, paper ballots (Oh my word, I've never voted on a paper ballot before), and little briefcases set up on four legs with cardboard around them for privacy when you vote. Seriously? It's not like I wanted to wait in a line, but both of my other voting experiences have been way more exciting (yet time consuming). When I voted at NC State there were people campaigning EVERYWHERE! They were handing out ice cream and had music blaring. It was like a party. When we voted in New Bern, there was a LOOOOOOOOOONG line. Doug and I went after work but there were still people campaigning in the parking lot. There were still signs all over the place. People in line were still getting in heated debates. It was at least a little interesting. There is nothing interesting about voting in Mount Holly.
3. Doug pointed out that it makes no sense to have the voter rolls divided into two lines. "A - L" and "M - Z". There are OF COURSE more M - Zs (which we conveniently fall into). Doug got to the polls at 6:15 and waited in line. He was the 33rd person in line (you have to know my husband to think it is hillarious funny and not out of character for him to count) and he said there were people in line "A - L" there were over 100th in line getting to vote before him. Being Mr. Efficient Engineer I'm sure this chapped his khakis but if it did he didn't tell me. He said he had a good voting experience also.
4. It is really interesting that NO FORM OF ID AT ALL is required to vote. You tell them your name and they give you a ballot. What if my neighbor goes and takes my ballot? I see all kinds of opportunities for deciet here...
Alright, those are my thoughts. Do you have any thoughts about the elections or the process? Comment! I'm interested in hearing them.
2 comments:
Our voting experience was very good. We did early voting at the library in Mt. View on Friday morning. DID NOT HAVE TO WAIT IN LINE...and electronically voted. Our usual voting place is Banoak Elementary where Doug attended school. They also had electronic voting machines for the first time in 2004. We have always had to wait in line on election day, but we knew nearly everyone in line, so it was a time to socialize. There is usually lots of people campaining and lots of signs, but we have never had ice cream.
Maw-maw
I voted early only because Ricky came home early one day and I could do it without my two shadows. If he hadn't done it, my plan was roughly about what yours was - let my children create havoc in hopes that I'd be bumped up in line. I am really glad I didn't have to test it, though. Early voting is genius and I don't know why the entire nation hasn't done it.
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