I breezed in and breezed out, voting was a piece of cake.
In 1996, I voted and I had with me an 18 month old. I kept him occupied in his stroller while I voted. He got an “I voted” sticker for his little outfit.
We voted by punching a pin through a hole.
In 2000, I voted and I had with me, a 5 ˝ year old, a 3 year old, and a 16 month old. My 5 year old hovered as I explained what was going on, my 3 year old stayed close, and my baby stayed in his stroller.
We voted by punching a pin through a hole… it was easy, the ballot was self explanatory, imagine my surprise when my County became embroiled in a mess with hanging chads, idiots not paying attention and claiming they voted for Pat Buchanon instead of Al Gore, and people who want way too much hand holding in all that they do.
No personal responsibility.
All my boys got “I voted” stickers.
In 2004, Palm Beach County, forever being afraid of hanging chads, switched to an electronic voting system. I had a 9 year old, 7 year old, and 5 year old… they all stood and watched from behind as I slid in my electronic device and voted.
All my boys got “I voted” stickers.
Since then, it has been determined that electronic voting machines do not leave a paper trail, and so they changed this year to ‘fill in the arrow’ ballot. It is one page front and back, and then a single page.
I think it does not bode well… a front and back page. We’ll have hell to pay for that one.
As we crossed the parking lot to enter and vote, I stopped and said, “We do not discuss who I’m voting for while in the booth. You can ask me about amendments, about the various people, but in a hushed voice, but you cannot discuss my choices until we are in my car.”
And so Bones and Mr. T stood on each side of me, watching and reading, Ringo stood behind me…
We all got “I voted” stickers, Ringo didn’t put his on.
Next election Ringo still will not be of age to vote. However, the election after that, two of my boys will.
I have family who sacrificed for our citizens to be able to vote. I have at least 13 ancestors who participated in one way or another, in the Revolutionary War. I have an ancestor that came over on the Mayflower.
I do not take any of this lightly, nor I think should my boys.
I have voted in EVERY Presidential election and most elections in between. It is our right to do so… and although it is also our right to choose not to, and I get that… perhaps a case of not liking who ran, I get that, it does bother me when people make excuses because it was a hassle.
I vote in the middle of the sticks. I vote so far from my home, that I have to mapquest it each and every time. I vote so far away, and out of the way, it adds over an hour to my day… if there is not waiting. (There was no waiting today; I breezed in and out.)
I have voted with babies, toddlers, preschoolers and now children who are cognizant of what is going on around them.
Trust me, there is not a bigger hassle than voting with three kids, when two of them are but babies.
So if you didn’t vote, just say it like it is… you didn’t want to vote, because the excuse of it being a hassle falls short with me. I have no patience for it.
I have always taken the girls to vote. If I waited to do things until I could do them alone nothing would ever gt done.
That said,I'm watching the election coverage and preparing to buy a gun tomorrow. Not kidding.
Posted by: Jody at November 4, 2008 09:55 PMWe've had the fill in the arrow ballots for a while here in OK, but we had a little elderly lady walking around in the voting precinct telling you to make sure you look at both sides. That's after they tell you that when they hand you the ballot. I don't remember voting on any other kind of ballot but that one, but the first time I voted back in '81 or 82' may have been a different type. I admire you taking the kids with you especially all three when they were little. My Mom didn't ever take me when I was little, but that was because she was in the back counting the votes. They kind of frowned on that!
Posted by: Tina at November 5, 2008 12:17 AMSomewhere in our dim distant past, our family tree includes Ethan Allen, hence many "Allens" in the family, because of the pride in the relationship. Not feeling very proud today ... more sick at heart than anything else. But tomorrow, another day, another hope.
Posted by: PeggyU at November 5, 2008 01:32 AMI worked in a precinct in Lantana, Florida. No lines, thanks to the early voting mobs.
We used the arrows on the ballot. Instructions were on the "privacy sleeve," on the ballot itself, you had to fill in an arrow when you signed the register to vote to show you knew how, yet I heard some folks STILL mismarked the ballots with circles or X-es. Amazing.
Also, some folks showed up as if they'd just heard there was gonna be an election. They just wanted to vote, but had no idea of what precinct to go to, something thinking folks might have settled six months ago.
Posted by: George at November 5, 2008 02:37 PM