The energy was palpable at 7:30 this morning when I cast my vote for Obama. No long lines, but a constant whirlwind of people coming in, going out. All exercising their voting right, all walking with a purpose, all driven.
I heard that earlier, at 6:00 am, the line was wrapped around one school with people already waiting, but that had eased by the time I showed up. My sister voted at 6:05, first in line in her small, rural town, but there was a line by the time she drove by later in the morning. Back home, water-cooler gossip has it that there’s been waits of 30 minutes or so.
On TV, there are lines of people in Charlotte, Columbus, San Diego, Ft. Lauderdale — from sea to shining sea — waiting patiently. But for how long? How patient can you be for 45 minutes, 2 hours, 5 hours, more? We don’t like to wait for burgers in the States. We’re inpatient, grumpy, and in a constant rush all the time. Why must we wait so long for this most important of jobs?
This is not Zimbabwe. Why are we so antiquated? Why is voting such a mess? If voter turnout is as large as anticipated, will we accommodate everyone? We go to war in the name of democracy, with the goal of bringing voting rights to foreign lands. We should have perfected this infrastructure here, in our democracy by now. But we haven’t. Who’s not doing their job?
This is the United States, and I shouldn’t feel such anxiety over whether all votes will be cast and counted accurately. Next time, hopefully, we’ll get it right. But didn’t we say that last time?
the largest problem at my voting arear was the proposals that are snuck in that people weren’t even aware of being on the ballot.People, even w/ todays huge information highway are still on the shoulder remaining uninformed and uneducated. Once the American people make it their first and foremost responsibility to become aware we will continue to flounder.
I was almost disappointed that there weren’t any lines in my area. However, maybe they did learn from previous elections… there were easily double the registration lines and voting carousels. They also created more polling places to cut down on some of the congestion. I do wonder when (if ever) we will have a national system.
One of my friends volunteered as an attorney for the Obama campaign at a polling location outside of Philadelphia. It was her job to document any irregularities and to help anyone that wanted to vote to be able to do so… I know that htere were extensive lines there.
i can’t help thinking it’s awesome that there has been such long lines all over… people taking a greater interest in public issues is always a good thing