Usually I'm in and out of my usual polling place like in 10 minutes, no muss, no fuss. But this morning, I found a long, long line, stretching all the way down the block, past the Jan Hus Presbyterian Church, down to the Tiffany-windowed liquor store and the Egyptian/Israeli deli on the corner. Why?? I'd like to think it's Voter Enthusiasm!
There may be other reasons for the huge crowds: Governor Cuomo is letting us vote at any polling place, due to the hurricane, or perhaps consolidation of older polling places. Who knows?
One reason may be that we switched to a paper ballot, fill-in-the-dot voting system, this time. I have issues with this.
Why were we not mailed a sample form in advance, so people wouldn't have to seek help at the polls? Many dazed and confused people, creating large crowds, even WITH voter enthusiasm. Granted, the NYS form is pretty simple, but the typeface is small - a problem for people with visual disabilities. They'd need to ask a busy pollworker for a large magnifying glass, if they even know they have them; some may be shy and just guess at which dot equals Barack Obama. I tried to find out how a person with a disability might be helped, and the pollworker, though nice, was very busy and couldn't fully answer my question. Not cool.
It's like practicing the dance steps for the recital AT the recital. Not cool at all.
We need one ballot design for every state in the nation, not a mishmash. Voter enthusiasm or not.
Bottom line, if you're in NYC, prepare to be ON line. Dress warm - it's cold today. My place was nice enough to provide coffee, but that's once you were inside. No matter what, DON'T LEAVE THE LINE. Take nothing for granted, not even here in true-blue New York State.
DON'T LEAVE THE LINE. It's worth the wait.