In April, 2008, I moved from St. Paul to Eagan (a second ring suburb).
Today, I voted for the 1st time outside the cities of Minneapolis or St. Paul. I have voted in either of the cities since 1980. I noticed a couple of differences:
- There were more machines (I found out why: in 2004 my old precinct had 1645 voters, my new one had 2586).
- There were more workers (probably for the same reason)
- There was less diversity (but not much)
My area of Eagan is very bikable (you have to be on a parralel multi-use trail for about a mile), so I rode my bike the 2 miles to my polling place. As I arrived at Woodland Elementary School, I parked my bike inside, just outside the gym where polling was taking place.
Before I even got in the gym, I was greeted by a judge, asking me if I had to register. I said no, because I registered already. I walked into the gym, where the lists were all printed out and I walked up to the judge, gave her my name, and signed the voter oath (saying I was at least 18, a resident of the precicnt and hadn't voted already). After getting my receipt, I proceeded to get a ballot. The judge joked about the other judge's receipt tearing skills (they weren't that good, as she left a corner on the pad), and gave me my ballot.
As I got to the waiting area, a booth opened, and I voted. In Minnesota it is paper scan ballots, so I filled in the appropriate bubbles. I put my ballot into the scanner, and saw I was voter 1583 for the day.
I got back on my bike and rode home, where I started tying this fine diary.