Early voting in Harnett County is at the elections office. When I pulled up I was surprised by the number of cars and the line outside the small office. Nevertheless, I was excited. My plan was simple, vote straight Dem and Micheal Morgan. After everything Trump had been saying in NC to his people I had concerns. I was impressed with the drive thru lane for handicapped voters and how well organized things appeared. So far so good.
Walking toward the line I was stopped by a campaign worker who handed me a pamphlet and a yellow piece of paper. He explained this person had a good reputation of working together with Dems and Repubs and would appreciate my vote. I thanked him and continued toward the back of the line. Before I reached it, I was stopped again. This worker told me the person on the pamphlet was a Republican and that the yellow sheet the guy gave me was for Repub candidates.
I looked at the yellow sheet, it was a sample ballot with all the Repub candidates filled in. I told him I was a Dem and he handed me a blue sheet which was the same sample ballot but with Dems . Holding both sheets I stepped to the back of the line behind a lesbian couple and overheard them talking. One had a blue sheet the other a yellow. The wife holding the yellow sheet had never voted before and when she discovered the sheet was for Repubs, she snorted, marched over and returned her sheet. I asked her to return mine too. We laughed. She gave it to him, and took a blue sheet from a Dem volunteer. The atmosphere wasn’t festive but is was good, civil. A couple behind me, yellow sheet, said they’d never early voted before. I was curious why they did this year but didn’t ask.
In line there were very few blue sheets. Harnett County is red, in fact driving around, the only place I saw Dem signs were on the front lawn of the Democratic Hdqtrs office on main street. There were no poll watchers or Trump brigade folks. The staff and poll workers were integrated and they all seemed to get along.
Directly behind me was a much older, staunch white female and behind her a younger, white female, both with yellow sheets. I spoke, chatted with them a bit about innocuous things and everyone was cordial.
Here’s the thing, no one was rude, crude or uncouth. No threats. No obvious bigotry. Just citizens exercising their rights and it felt good. In fact I wondered how these people who looked and acted sane and civilized could vote for Trump, if they voted party. Maybe that’s the danger/shock of this election. Still waters run deep. Ordinary looking people doing deadly, to the Republic, things. Masks of civility in a public setting was what I hoped for and received.
I only had one friend who told me he was voting for Trump because of all this stuff about Hillary. The fact he’d accept Trump in the White House was a deal breaker for me. Right or wrong, I just can’t get past that kind of logic. And no, I don’t know if Hillary did half the things she’s accused of. But as a single mom, her stance regarding Obamacare — went from $541 to $130 mth, equal pay for equal work, and a woman’s right to choose is enough for me.
The difference between my former friend and the sea of yellow sheet holders in the line was we’d probably never see each other again outside of this peaceful setting. And that’s okay. Seeing democracy in action… that was a beautiful thing.