I Got My Vote On

I went and voted yesterday! Since my job is steadily becoming my life, I am out of town on Tuesday. This was the first year that I have lived in Ohio that you could "early vote". I'm still trying to figure out why I could only vote downtown at the Board of Elections...but maybe that is a kink that they will work out for the next time.

I will say this although it took me two and a half hours to vote...I never stood in one place for longer than about ten minutes. When I got in line...the line was about two city blocks long...it was really moving to see this many people participating. It was a veritable Beneton ad...White, Black Latino, Asian, men, women, young, and old. I was very excited to see as many young voters as I did...as they tend to get a bad wrap for not showing up.

I stood in line with the very lovely Miss Maxine. She was in her Sunday finest with her daughter and granddaughter...three generations in line to vote. Talking with Miss Maxine was the highlight of my day. She was so exited to vote that she kept dabbing at her eyes as we talking about the meaning of this particular election. This was a woman who was born before women had the right to vote, who was charged a poll tax in more than one election, and lived to see the day when she could vote for a president that looked like her. I'm glad that she got to see that day as well.

The worker from the Board of Elections said that they had already early voted some 60,000 people and that they were expecting another 5,000-6,000 yesterday. As I dropped my ballot in the box I gave a kiss for luck and asked the election gods to please make sure that it counted. I have my "I voted today" sticker on a piece of wax paper so that I can wear it on Tuesday, even though I won't be at home.