Voting!

Last year I was so excited when the Board of Elections announced New Jerseyans could vote early in a number of polling places, with my local library on the list. I told everyone who would listen how easy it is to vote this way. 

I found out yesterday just how well word of mouth spread when for the first time in my life as a voter, there was a long line of other voters. As I walked up to the line I asked someone how long she waited. She said she got in the line at 10:17 am. It was 11:43. Nearly 90 minutes to wait to vote!

Long waits to vote is something I have heard about in the news, especially when people are banned from giving voters water as they wait. That is something that might happen in big cities, but not in surburbia. It is something my family in Ohio has faced, but not us in New Jersey.

That's why I was so surprised to see the line wrap around my library, and even start to go down the stairs as it was starting to switchback.

I had groceries in the car, so I left. After all, the polls had only been open a couple of hours. 

Don and I went into Princeton. We heard Dan's band play in Palmer Square, ate some bent spoon ice cream (baked apples and roasted pumpkin), and went to the Princeton Municipal Building to vote. Before entering we asked someone who was leaving how long it too for him to vote. He said 10-15 minutes.

The line went down the hallway, but not outside. Don and I chatted with a Princeton alumnus who wanted to get home quickly to watch the Princeton-Harvard football game on TV. Further up in line I saw a dad with his 6-year-old son dressed as an action hero. The voters ranged in age and ethnicity. All were patient, excited to do our civic duty. They even gave us stickers to celebrate that we voted (another rarity in New Jersey).

The process is more cumbersome than it used to do when we had the hanging-chad kind of machines. First we meet with a poll worker who looks us up and checks our ID by scanning the back of our drivers licenses. He hands out a receipt. Then we wait in a slow line waiting for one of the five caped voting machines to open up. Inside another poll worker feeds the receipt into the machine and like magic our ballot appears. Even though I was voting in Princeton, the ballot for Lawrenceville, including school board candidates, appears. Make choices. Click go to the back of the ballot for school board candidates. Click a button to review. Click another button to cast the vote. 

This is where it gets cumbersome -- the ballot prints and we leave the curtain, with the ballot in hand, to feed it into a machine that eats the ballot. I suppose this is so there is also a paper trail, but the printing of the ballot is what seems to take the longest.

I'll admit to misting up in the booth as I cast my vote for who I hope with all my being wins.

All in all, it took us 30 minutes to vote. Well worth it!

We came home to see a postcard addressed to Ashley asking her to vote. After writing and mailing about 70 postcards, it is nice to see firsthand that they actually do go to real people.