November 2008

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One of the fun things about early voting in North Carolina is that you don't have to go to your home polling place, just to one in your county. So when it came time to decide what to do about voting, I decided early voting and at Morehead Planetarium on UNC's campus would be just the thing. I set out this morning to do just that.

I know this election is going to be one for the history books, but even at that I was surprised when I got halfway down Franklin Street and a man carrying pamphlets stopped to ask if I were on my way to vote. I said that was my destination, and after making sure I knew where I was going, gave me a pamphlet. To which I responded, "Oh good, you've handed me material for the candidates I support, not the opposition!" We both laughed about that, and I went on my way.

There was a moment of confusion when I saw a line of people on a balcony near Morehead, but I soon realized they weren't in line to vote. Actually, I think I briefly crashed a party, but they were quite nice about it, and I'm sure they would have offered me coffee had I not been holding my water bottle.

I got to Morehead expecting to wait at least a few minutes, but from walking in the building to putting my ballot in the counter was less than ten minutes, and some of that was me double-checking to make sure I had filled in all the applicable ovals.

This is also the first time I've ever voted sitting at a table. It was my choice, because my back has been bothering me the past couple of days thanks to the changing weather. Since the polling place was upstairs in Morehead, and my back doesn't like coming down stairs, I took advantage of the elevator (and of walking down the wheelchair ramp when I got outside).

On my way back to Franklin Street I ran into a Democratic Party volunteer who had been at the base of the steps leading up to the party I mentioned. i stopped to thank him for taking his time to volunteer, and he said, "No, thank you for voting." I don't think I've ever been thanked for voting before, and it was a really nice thing to have happen.

We chatted another couple of seconds about turnout. As of 10:30 this morning, over 17 thousand people had voted at Morehead, and I understand that over 50 thousand have voted in the county. I am quite impressed with those numbers.

As I walked back up Franklin, I ran into several more volunteers, all of whom refrained from handing me sample ballots since I was wearing my "I voted" sticker. I ran an errand, then realized I had time to get lunch at Sutton's before my bus, so I did just that.

And now I'm home, savoring the amusement of voting away from "home," the pleasure of getting to be on campus, the thank you, and most of all, the power of having done something that may well be the most important thing I'll do this year...vote.

* * * * * * * * * * *

This is All Saints' Day, and I would be remiss without noting that I have lost several loved ones this year. But news of one of those losses just reached me today, and I don't want to talk about it yet. I will just say I am holding several names very close in my heart.