Vote early....and often

Do it, folks. Go vote today.

I did my civic duty this morning before work, and fortunately the line wasn't very long. There were only two political junkies out front waving signs, and they were both Kerry supporters. Around them were loads of signs for all the various politicians running for office. One handed me two info sheets for some folks running for school board, and then said, "You can't go wrong voting for the ladies."

That made me stop for a moment, then I realized that he had in fact said the last name of one of the women -- which sounds very similar to "the ladies." I relaxed -- I hoped he wasn't using some stupid reasoning like "Oh, well, women know education better than men, etc..." to get people to vote for these folks. And he wasn't, so all was well.

Inside, Amy and I checked in, got our voting cards and stood in a short line for the voting computers. I am still surprised at how little proof of identification is required for voting. All I had to do was give my name and address -- that's it. I think there should be at least some form of ID shown to make sure everything's legit, you know?

Then we got a brief lesson in computer voting, and went to it. Very easy -- just slide the card in, follow the directions on the screen, touch the screen next to the folks you want to vote for, and then hit "cast your ballot." Simple enough. But I took my time, relishing in the fact that this is a great country and society because we can voice our opinions about who we want representing us in the government. Sometimes I get very resentful, cynical, and dejected about the state of politics and the government in the US. Yet on voting days, I get kind of nostalgic and patriotic.

I also took a moment to actually consider if I wanted to write someone's name in -- or in this case, type someone's name in. Maybe my dad, or Amy, or even my brother. Then they could say they all got a vote in the 2004 Presidential Election. But, no, I felt I needed to vote for one of the two major candidates.

So, I voted, got my little "I Voted" sticker, and went off to work. Easy, peezy, 1-2-3-zee.

Tonight we're having an election night party, and I'm hoping that this election won't be like the last one in that we have to wait weeks to find out who really won (which some are still debating today). It would be nice to know tomorrow morning when I wake up whether I should be angry or be cautiously hopeful.

In any case, go vote today, people! And if you're in Ohio, please vote against Issue 1.