Disenfranchised

We voted this morning, early. Usually we wait until after work, but since I had to work tonight we opted instead to get out to the polls before Paul left.

I knew our polling place had changed. It's usually at a big Baptist church at the corner of one major road and a bigger side street. I had saved the letter we got letting us know, so I kinda sorta knew where to go, I thought.

In fact, I overshot where we were going, had to turn around and finally found it (a tiny little sign and a bigger one on the outside of the original polling place which partially blew down in the hard rain). Here's the problem: No parking, and a pouring down rain. We had Maggie with us and basically had to make a run for it, from our semi-legal parking spot.

I tend to take any accusations of deliberately caused voting irregularities wiith a grain of salt. It seems so paranoid to think someone is specifically NOT wanting you to vote. And I dont genuinely think thaat's what happened today. We have a new city clerk, and this is her frist big election. I think she mostly just screwed up. However, I had to wonder, when my mom said she and my dad had to wait for a really long time (and they were the only precinct at their polling place with a line) if something was a little stinky here. We live in probably two of the whitest neighborhoods in the city, and as we know white=Republican, even in a ragingly liberal city like this one. While I don't think this was deliberate, I can imagine how people freak out and think it is.

But we did cast our vote, and for first time this decade I am not depressed on election night! Governor won, Senator won, and the Democrats appear to have taken the house. Hooray!