That’s how many of the registered voters in our precinct showed up to vote yesterday. It was a primary for both major parties with some contested races, but none where the outcome was really in question.
And then we had Proposition C which would invalidate the federal requirement that most people purchase health insurance or face a tax penalty. Prop C passed with a 71% approval rating statewide. The issue is expected to be settled in the courts so I’m not getting too overheated about it except to note that nearly twice as many Republicans as Democrats voted statewide. I wonder how the results would have differed if the vote had been held in November.
Anyway, let’s not start down that road, I don’t have the patience for it tonight.
Tuesday didn’t get off to an auspicious start. I got up at 3:30 am to allow a little extra time to slide by the big McD’s for coffee and an egg thingie — only to find out that McD’s didn’t open until 5 am — which is when I had to be at the polling place. Scrap breakfast.
So I head over to the church thinking I might be lucky and catch the janitor there early to unlock the door. There’s nobody around when I get there but I can see lights on so I tried the door. Unlocked and the room is ready to go. Makes up for missing breakfast.
I start unloading the car to get a head start on the day. I was on my next to last trip with just one bag and the voting signs to unload when I grabbed the door handle and pulled.
It didn’t budge. Turned it again. Shook it, pushed it, pounded it.
Locked.
And my purse and cell phone are inside the building.
Walked around the church but there’s nobody to be seen and no lights on. Just when I’m seriously cursing my luck another judge arrives with a cell phone. A couple phone calls (“Yes, the door really is locked. Yes, really. If you don’t believe me, come try it for yourself.”) and 20 minutes later, the church lady arrives with a key (“I don’t know how you managed to lock this door, it takes a key.”)
I kept my snort to myself when the door locked on her without the key.
Meanwhile, even though it’s 5:30 and the polls don’t open until 6 am, there are 3 voters waiting to vote.
And we haven’t broken the seal on the first ballot box yet.
We hustled. We got the place open in half an hour but things were a little cockeyed. Nobody cared and the door stayed unlocked until mid-afternoon when it locked itself again. Some masking tape took care of it and removing it made locking up at the end of the day easy.
I never did get breakfast. A PB&J sandwich, a little fruit and a handful of granola kept me going until closing at 7 pm.
Home at 8 pm, a quick dinner, a shower and bed were all I could manage. It was tough going to work today.
That is a very long day. I hope you get extra coffee today.
Sounds like an interesting day. I was number 52 when I stopped to vote at 7:30 a.m. At least the gymnasium was air-conditioned so the workers didn’t have to suffer from the heat. Sure hope you were in a/c, too!!
22%, that’s just sad. The Dems around here must have a hard time getting to the voting polls.. there’s more registered Dems than Reps but Oklahoma is red red red. I don’t get it. I hate thinking this but ‘lazy bastids’ comes to my mind.
The Strange Locking Door. :^)
Ugh!
Sounds like quite a day.
I wouldn’t have been able to keep my snort to myself. You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din.
Holding back *that* snort could have made you explode – you got off lucky!