Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Vote Early!

For those of us in the US, today is Election Day. After months of campaigning (I wanted to say "heated debate" but we didn't really get months of that, id we?) it's time to vote, and select a new president.

I live in a quiet little neighborhood, and typically get up early to vote as soon as the polls open. There have never been more than five or ten people in line in front of me, and it's always been a quick in-and-out[1] procedure.

But today was a little different.

Today, when I arrived a few minutes after the polls opened (6:00 AM, still dark outside) the parking lot was nearly full. There were 60 or 70 people already in line in front of me; it took me almost half an hour to get in, vote, and get back out again. And when I left the line was noticeably longer than it had been when I arrived.

Never before have I seen a voter turnout like this one. For some reason, people must feel that this particular election is very important.

So if you're thinking about waiting until after work today to vote, please let me urge you to not delay. If the massive[2] voter turnout that I experienced this morning is at all indicative of what the day will look like at polls around the nation, you will probably want to ensure that you take into account longer lines and longer delays at the polls.

So go vote!

[1] And if you now for some reason feel the urge to go watch A Clockwork Orange then my work here is done. ;-)

[2] Ok, so 60 or 70 people isn't "massive" on a global scale, but please work with me here...

2 comments:

Ken Lin said...

Good luck! I hope you guys elect a president who will be good for USA as well as the world. :)

Matthew Roche said...

Thanks, Ken - I sure hope so too. Of course, folks on each side of the election here feel strongly that their candidate is the one that matches this WHERE clause. Only time will tell.

But with that said, I'll be listening to the news today and not listening to Manowar like I usually do during work hours...