I Voted

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I always try to run two errands when using the car, so I dropped the trash off at the “convenience center” before going to vote. It’s a good thing I did, because one bag reeked. I did not want to be identified, rightly or wrongly, as one of those garbage voters.

Joyce had voted days ago, and she mentioned having used a machine. I haven’t voted that way since we left New York. My surprise at the polling place was not the way of voting, but the venue itself. I started walking into the firehouse, and a man who was helping direct traffic called out to me. The firehouse has not been renovated yet after being flooded in the hurricane. I was to vote in a tent with a hard roof. The sides were cloth, hung from the top like a shower curtain. Inside, computers replaced the old voting ledgers. I signed a paper printed with my voter information and was given a paper ballot. There were about six people ahead of me.

Voting, then, was like always here. Standing at a tall stand with a cardboard shield around it, I filled in circles beside the names of people I was voting for. When finished, I took the ballot and fed it into a machine. A voting helper handed me a tiny sticker that said I voted.

I meant to put the sticker on when I got to the car, but people were waiting for my parking space. I went home, forgetting to pick up the sticker. I took my photo, anyway, complete with red, white, and blue star earrings. It’s my official statement that I voted.

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Published by Anne Mehrling

I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.

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13 thoughts on “I Voted”

    1. I have seen they are posting new voting places everywhere. I am glad my voting place stayed the same, despite the fact that the building had up to a foot of mud in it after the hurricane. As I pulled into park today, I saw wrecked picnic tables

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    1. I have voted in every election since I was legally able to vote at age 21. It helped that husband John walked slowly with me when I was just out of the hospital after son John was born. We both believed voting is important.

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  6. well done Anne. It is an important civil responsibility. Here in Australia it is compulsory- and whether that is good or bad, I believe that the struggle for universal suffrage took so long we would be foolish to miss our chance to vote.

    Thinking of America today whatever the outcome and hoping good sense prevails.

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  7. Well, I could not vote as I’m not a citizen, but I wish I could have. I’ve been sneaking peeks on social media throughout the night as I don’t have TV, but it does not look promising for my chosen candidate so far … the night is young however, so I may have to wait until morning, or a few more days as some are predicting.

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