I wanted to post a story about my voting experience in Dayton, Ohio, as early voting wraps up. On a whim, I decided to pull the trigger on voting today after class after discovering that I did not need an Ohio driver's license. I just moved to Dayton to start law school this fall and had not had an opportunity to register or obtain a new license.
More on the flip...
Update: Today is the last day to register and vote early in one big swoop. You can still vote early.
I found the local county board of elections on voteforchange.com and dragged one of my classmates to the booth with me. Before we entered the building, an Obama supporter handed us a sample ballot. She was the one and only person standing outside of the building. As we looked up towards the entrance, voters were running to the door knowing the line was very long.
We headed down the escalator to register with the board of elections, which took all of two minutes. We thenheaded into the basement of the building. There we waited 30 minutes to obtain our absentee ballots. Why did it take so long? Because the line was looooonnnnnnng. Most of the voters were African-American of various ages and split evenly along gender. The few white and hispanic voters there all appeared young, between the ages of 22-32.
My number was called to head to the election official to complete the process and hand me my absentee ballot. I asked her how many voters had requested absentee ballots. She said I was the 40,958th person. This was at 3:30pm on the last day of early voting. She said she had never seen turnout this high in her many years of working at the board of elections. I was thrilled.
I voted straight ticket for Dems but did not vote for any judges. Being a former Virginia resident, I feel sick to my stomach at the thought of voting for judges. Money, politics, partisanship do not, on face, belong in selecting our judges.
After casting my ballot, I grabbed my sticker and headed back to campus to file this report...and pick-up my civ pro book. ugh.
To me not voting is like not taking a shower after working out at the gym for two hours, and instead sitting in your pool of sweat and funk. Only this time you can only get that fresh feeling for at least another two years, depending on your state.
I've only missed one election, the 2002 mid-terms. I'm glad voteforchange.com gave me the information I needed without all the unnecessary crap.
Count TWO for Obama-Biden!