Election day and NaNo, day 6

A polling place at a recreation center in New Jersey’s 2008 general election (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So, did you vote?  I was there at a little after 6 this morning, thinking I’d get in and out quickly then head out to work.  My polling place was the neighborhood grade school, very close to where I live.  As I was driving up the street toward the school, I glanced over at the parking lot and thought, “Holy moly!  That’s a lot of cars.”   I parked and got out of my car and walked toward the lighted doors.  When I opened the door, I looked up and saw the line running the full length of the hallway where it disappeared around a corner.  Actually the line had snaked down one side of the hall and the end of the line was curved around along the opposite wall.  One of the poll workers was talking about what everyone needed as far as ID was concerned and that there was a map on the wall that listed the 3 precincts voting at this location.  He then lifted his hands over his head and excitedly exclaimed, “I’ve never seen anything like this.  This is so cool!”  That brought more than a few chuckles from the crowd.

As the line inched its way forward, I eventually made it to the corner.  Imagine my surprise when I saw the line continue down another hall!  Wow!  Honestly, I’ve never seen anything like that.  There have been many elections when I walked into the polling place and saw only the volunteers, sometimes one or two voters.

I finally got to cast my vote (surprisingly on paper ballots rather than a voting machine) then made my way back out.  The line was just as long as it was when I had arrived.  Pretty cool.

I posted this on Facebook earlier this evening and thought I’d share it here too.  While I was still waiting in line, a young girl (she looked like she was young enough that this was her first election) and her mother came out after casting their votes.  The girl handed her phone to a guy waiting in line and asked if he would take a picture of them.  They both put on their “I voted” stickers and posed for that special picture.  To see how excited that girl was to have cast her ballot, that, to me, is a big part of what is right with our system (yes, there is a lot that is wrong, for sure), that we have the right to vote and that our votes really do count.  (Well..there is that pesky thing called the electoral college…boo)  Anyhow, as I looked around at the people waiting in line with me, we weren’t thinking of each other as enemies, we weren’t being hateful or nasty, we were all just there to peacefully cast our votes…to exercise our rights and to live up to our responsibilities.  And that’s a pretty cool thing!

Now on to NaNo…I did manage to write a little over 1650 words tonight…unfortunately, pretty much all of them were crap.  Even as I was writing them, I was thinking how terrible it was.  But I did sit down and write…probably nothing that will ever see the light of day…oh, is this my inner editor giving me a hard time?  Could be…

But I am over 18,000 words, so that’s something.  Now, do I dare go to bed and wait until tomorrow to hear the election results?  Oh, what am I talking about, they probably won’t know the results for who knows how long.

Related articles

• election day. (rememberyourwellies.com)
• NaNo on Election Day (marisabecker.wordpress.com)