In Her Own Words
My girlfriend, who is as busy as I am, voted today. I asked her to write about the experience. She was kind enough to do so. And for the record, she’s a split-ticket voter.
This morning, as I was pulling into the parking lot of J. Everett Light Career Center on 86th Street, reminded me of the weeks before Christmas at like Best Buy or Wal-Mart. You remember the special deals on the products that everybody wanted and the people that brought their tents, chairs, and food sitting near the entrance ready to be the first to enter. I arrived at 10:00 a.m., an hour before the doors were to open. The crowd of people was already wrapped around the side and near the back of the building. Many people that were standing behind me were amazed at how far the line already was.
At about 10:20 a.m. we were informed they would be opening early and to have our government ID ready when entering the facility. There were a few young adults that were coming around selling coffee, hot chocolate and brownies for a buck. Anything to buy the time just standing around—and the money went back to the school. At around this time the line actually started moving a bit faster and some of the people that were on the ballot started making their way to the crowd “selling themselves” and why we should vote for them. County Treasurer Michael Rodman, Republican Judicial candidate Jim Joven, and County Surveyor candidate Debra Jenkins were just a few of the people that were out speaking and shaking hands with the people.
I noticed there was a lot of emphasis put on the Democratic Party and forms to show just how to vote a straight Democratic ticket. I thought it was interesting that there weren’t as many public figures out to boost the Republican team. I was told by one woman that there were more Republicans out pushing their party last Sunday. I thought it was a good move for the candidates to get out and show their faces and talk to the people that just might vote for them. Although I thought most people had it in their minds already that they were going to vote for, I felt that this could only help their chances for the few undecided in races like the circuit court judge or the county treasurer.
All in all I must say that this voting facility was very organized and got us in without a lot of mass confusion. It took me a total of 2 and a half hours to finish the whole process. Voting early has really helped me in making sure my work week isn’t bombarded with voting on Tuesday and I did it all in heels too!
