First off, congratulations to Barack Obama for becoming the FIRST ever African American president (WHOOO) and for winning the election! I was pleased with the results, as was my entire dorm floor. It was great fun to dance in and out of people’s rooms, jumping up and down and shrieking.
But I digress.
Today I learned how to vote!
Exciting, huh? For those of you seasoned voters, probably not. But even though I could have voted last year at this time, there were only local elections going on — and at the time I was brand new to East Lansing and thus uninformed about what to vote for. So I didn’t.
But THIS year was the monumental presidential election, so it was a big deal. My first time voting! And a good one, since all of the things I said “YES” to passed (Proposals 1 and 2, whoo hoo!). I was really scared and nervous going into it. I’d heard all sorts of nasty stories of college students getting harrassed at the polls — like how they ask tons of questions, seem to suspect you aren’t really qualified to vote, require you to have this and this and this and get all nasty about it, or force you to go back home and change if you wear any paraphenalia. I was also anticipating long, painful lines. Like four hour lines.
To my pleasant surprise, none of this happened. I set off from the dorm armed with a book to entertain myself and about 5 copies of required paperwork (when I really just needed a driver’s license), and the entire afternoon free to fight until I got the right to vote! None of that was necessary. It was all very smooth and took about a half hour. They had a nice little shuttle bus that took me to my designated voting destination. I walked in to a clearly marked table run by cute college-aged boys, who looked at my ID and filled out some info on a small piece of paper, like my voter number and to clarify I was registered to the right address and in the right precinct. I was.
I was then directed into a hall that was slightly more full of college kids and little old ladies. Little old lady #1 took my paper and filled out a couple more parts on it and glanced at my ID, gave me a warm smile, and directed me to yet another table where they gave me a ballot and instructions on how to properly use it. I was then sent off to find a small plastic “no peeking” stand.
I didn’t have to go behind any curtains or anything. It was very short and quick, and my heart was pounding the whole time (“DON’T SCREW UP WITH THE MARKER OR IT WON’T COUNT”). After that, I joined the only line that day to wait and insert my ballot into the computer. The line moved quickly, and after a few minutes I was talking to little old lady #3, who demonstrated how to properly insert the ballot. I did, the computer gave me a satisfying beeping sound, and I turned in the plastic ballot holder to little old lady #4, who proudly handed me a “I VOTED” sticker.
Thus was my experience. Brief, painless, and extremely satisfying. I spent the rest of the day bouncing from room to room yelping “GUESS WHAT?! I VOTED!” and showing off my sticker. And in future elections, I will move with dignity and grace to fulfill my civic duty. And still get my sticker.
