Yes, that’s a really tortured Wimpy reference, but bear with me!
I’d like to collect as many good and bad voting stories as possible for upcoming posts and I’m willing to give you a chance at some cool swag in exchange!
Leave a detailed comment about your voting experiences — good or bad, early, absentee or Election Day — and I’ll pick one comment at random to receive one of these lovely John McCain = Halloween 365 days a year shirts …
… a copy of The SheSpot, with some interesting information on how marketers AND politicians can get women’s attention and votes, if they really want to try …
… and some cool custom PunditMom trinkets!
Don’t be shy! I want to hear them all, ’cause I know there are some good ones out there! Thanks!
And the winner is Maia at Own the Sidewalk. Thanks for all the great stories!
November 2nd, 2008 at 6:23 pm
I blogged my early voting experience in Ohio here:
http://www.tinymantras.com/2008/10/early-voting-experience.html
November 2nd, 2008 at 6:48 pm
I planned to vote on election day because I love the energy of a polling place on election day, although this is the first presidential election I will vote in the small town where I now live. However, I decided to vote early when I heard from my best friend that she is awaiting the results of a medical test – I want to get the first plane out if she calls and says she needs me. So on Thursday I drove to town hall, parked right in front of the door, went into the building, and approached the counter. I gave my full name, which the clerk wrote on the envelope for the absentee ballot. Then she led me to a small room where I could sit at a desk to fill out my ballot, after which I signed my full name and sealed the envelope. I returned to the counter and handed her the envelope. She said, “Good job.” Total time it took to vote: 5 minutes. How it felt to vote in this historic election: priceless.
November 2nd, 2008 at 6:50 pm
I blogged our voting in TN experience here: http://domesticpsychology.com/blog/2008/11/01/the-family-vote/
My favorite part was my 15-y-o refusing to believe the machine wasn’t touch screen. “Seriously? You have to turn a knob?”
November 2nd, 2008 at 8:01 pm
I voted by absentee ballot a couple of weeks ago. At the time I was talking with my dad everyday because he didn’t have hospice in daily and I worried about him alone in the mornings. I knew he wasn’t going to live to vote on the 4th and was pushing him a little to get an absentee ballot himself by telling him about mine.
In the end he opted not to vote this year. He reasoned that it was a small thing in the scheme of his life at this point. I voted the incumbents out knowing that he would have done that if he could.
November 3rd, 2008 at 2:47 am
I voted from England and let the world know here:
http://www.giftsofthejourney.com/Elizabeth_Harper-Gifts_of_the_Journey/Blog/Entries/2008/10/30_Hope_%26_Possibility.html
November 3rd, 2008 at 12:05 pm
I voted early from my tiny Vermont town up near Canada. We have 179 registered voters last time I checked and an overall population of about 400. I walked into Town Hall and said hello to Betsy, our town clerk and treasurer. She got up from her lunch and the newspaper (all 10 pages of it) and handed me an absentee/early ballot packet and had me sign a form to check it out. We talked for a bit about the weather and the next Town Meeting Day, and I headed on my way.
I brought the packet home and waited to open it until my fifth-grader got off the bus from school. We looked though the sheets together. He was excited to see some familiar names on the ballot. “He buys my scout popcorn!” he said about one man running for State Representative. “You should definitely vote for him.” He was surprised to see so many people running for president. We used Google to find out more about some of the lesser-known candidates like Roger Calero from the Socialist Workers Party. I admitted to him that I had once voter for Ralph Nader.
We filled out the ovals (reading the instructions carefully to make sure our vote wasn’t disqualified for a technical error), packed up the forms, and stamped the envelope. It will be busy at our Town Hall on Election Day, but busy for us means a steady stream of people and a line that’s two-deep.
November 3rd, 2008 at 12:29 pm
I voted early at City Hall in Anchorage, Alaska, where I’ve never had to wait on line before to vote… but it was packed last Thursday. A woman ahead of me in line returned from the voting booth to find her coat had been stolen. I assume whoever stole it was there to vote for incumbent Rep. Don Young.
I was surprised, when I sat down and looked at the ballot, to find myself getting teary. I was a Hillary supporter in the primary, but here I was, getting ready to vote for Barack Obama, and it really hit me for the first time just how historic this election is. My dad grew up in the South and remembers being slapped and scolded by a strange woman after he drank out of a “colored” water fountain. He attended the Civil Rights March on Washington as a teenager. And here I was, voting for a black man for president. It took me a minute to compose myself after I filled in the oval next to Obama’s name.
November 4th, 2008 at 10:23 am
I voted, with bells on.
http://www.magpiemusing.com/2008/11/voting.html
While we were waiting, we were looking at the sample ballot on the check-in table. Mir said “where’s Obama?” I pointed to his name, and she said “I’m voting for Obama”. The woman at the table gently admonished her – “you can’t tell anyone who you’re voting for when you’re in here -it’s electioneering”.
November 4th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
I made a point to vote early. Why? Because my early voting place happened to be the Jefferson County Courthouse in WV. Why is this significant?
Does anyone remember a little historical note about a certain abolitionist named John Brown? He had himself a little revolution in Harpers Ferry, something which helped touch off the American Civil War.
He was tried at the Courthouse, and hanged a few blocks away.
So this week I voted for the first African-American President. (I’m projecting, the day isn’t over, but … well, I Hope.) I voted in THAT courthouse. I like to think that the historical significance of that will be meaningful to someone besides myself because, personally, I find it.. well, just effing brilliant.
November 4th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
I woke up excited. Got my four year old son chanting Obama..Obama…Yes we can….Yes we can. We got dressed, grabbed the camera and hopped in the car. We parked, walked in, gave my name and address and I was asked for my id. Then the poll worker, who lives in my development and is an active member of my Home Owners Association began to question my signature and said that the signature on my license did not match the signature on my voters registration form. I explained that it is my married name and I don’t use it professionally, sign it often, and that I have terrible handwriting and frequently go back and forth between cursive and print…Her point of contention was that the first letter of my last name on my license was writin in print but in script on my voter registration form. She looked at me and my four year old with contempt. I asked if id was required and she responded “only yours”. Startled I looked at the man next to me who told me that if this is your first time voting in the district your id is required. Oh…ok…thanks. He then went on to say how happy he was to see this because of all the “new” registrations and potential for voter fraud…so as politely as I could I turned away. Then the poll worker called over her boss to look at my signature, who finally said that because all three signatures were equally bad she would let me vote. This poll worker was my neighbor and she almost stopped me from voting…perhaps she has seen my Obama bumper sticker. Regardless I wasn’t going to let this damper our excitement so once I finally got my license back, my son and I entered the booth and made our vote for all the dems we could find! Take that Hannity. Obama – Biden 08
Sustainable Mom
http://www.sustainablemotherhood.com
November 4th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Had a good voting experience. Waited in line for about 20 minutes at my community center, just the right amount of time to be excited, nervous, and emotional without getting frustrated or annoyed.
The poll workers were nice. There were no apparent shenanigans, although the guy who came in after me said that a write-in mayoral candidate was campaigning too close to the front door.
We had 5 or 6 booths for voting paper and pen ballots. The elections official opened a table for folks to vote if they didn’t care about privacy to speed the lines along. I used that option.
Wheeeee.
Went right along to Starbucks for my free cuppa coffee.
November 4th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
I voted absentee from bed. It was a fabulous to vote. No rush, and I could do as much research as I wanted too while I had the ballot in front of me.
November 4th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Hey there PunditMom! Snapshots from NYC: Saw a dog wearing a “Got Hope?” t-shirt. Got in a cab with a driver who said “I’ll only take you if you’re voting Obama!” Pulled the lever and got all teary. Overheard a father say to his 3 year old or so son, “Look around, you’ll remember this day!” Sniff sniff. Am feeling all verklempt. Getting updates from my father, whose office is across from Grant Park in Chicago. Feeling so proud to be from Chicago today!!
November 4th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
I had been talking with my 8yo about helping me vote today. Our school district had teacher workdays yesterday and today, but the after school care program was open, so the plan was to vote (in the school gym) and then drop him at the care center. His group was planning on a field trip today to the Newseum, and he needed to be at the school by 8:30. Well, as always, I was running late and managed to get him there by 8:45, which means we didn’t have time to vote beforehand. I walked down by myself and was the third person in line. After registering and getting my voter number card, I walked back up to the care center to see if he could come down with me for 5min. No problem! So, he was able to help me vote after all and got his own “I Voted” stick to wear downtown.