All Over but the Miscounting 0
I voted on the way to my assignment. That location had two check-in lines and seven voting machines. Good turnout and 45-minute line. One of the poll workers said there had been a line since they opened at 6:00 a.
My friend voted and had a similar experience. Then she went to her workplace, which volunteers part of its facility to be used as a polling place, and couldn’t find a parking spot so she could go to work.
After I voted, I went to my assigned polling location–a large suburban high school–to hand out sample ballots for the forces of truth, justice, and the American way.
School was not in session, though the staff had an in-service day. But you could not tell that from the parking lot; it was jammed–people made spaces where there were no spaces.
That location had two check-in lines and ten voting machines.
And a three- to four-hour wait.
Some persons left without voting because they had to pick up their kids or go to work. Some of those, whom I commend wholeheartedly, came back, knowing what kind of wait they faced.
Regulars told me such waits are not uncommon in that location.
After lunchtime, some persons from the neighborhood came out with free coffee and doughnuts for the crowd, then someone showed up from the local Obama headquarters with cases of bottled water to distribute to the waiting voters.
Something is wrong when a polling location is so woefully understaffed with poll workers and voting machines on a regular basis.
I was on my feet for five and a half hours handing out “lit” (erature) and joking with the folks in line, who were generally good-natured.
One fellow did choose to get into a tiff with a lady distributing lit for a school board candidate. It seemed to be an apolitical snit. I guess he was a bad attitude waiting for a victim. Other than that, it was uneventful and, because of the attitude of the voters, a not unpleasant experience.
But long.
I don’t plan to watch the returns. I plan to check in on them from time to time while drinking heavily.
The torrent of Republican lies has exhausted me.
On the bright side, the 2016 campaign starts tomorrow.
Image via Comically Vintage.
