Get Out the Vote

In 2008, I waited for almost an hour to vote, having arrived at the polls at 7a to find 50 to 60 people in front of me.  Yesterday, there were only 10 or so at that hour.  (Draw your own conclusions from that data point.)

Good thing, too, because mornings have become a lot more crowded for the Huang family since the last presidential election.  Amy and I were up late for a church meeting the night before, so were dragging that morning.  Compounding matters, she had a short-lived but quite painful bout of food poisoning overnight.

As for me, Tuesday mornings mean a quick prayer time with one of my fellow elders, followed by a swim at the Y.  And, since the Eagles played on Monday Night Football, the game was televised on regular (i.e. non-cable) TV, so I could tape it and watch it the next morning.  So even before the polls opened, there was a lot going on.

Before I left for the Y, I left breakfast out for the kids, and Amy made sure they were OK in the kitchen while I was out of the house.  On my home, I peeked at the polling place and saw no line.  When I got home, I told everyone to get ready to go vote.  We left the house, walked two blocks, and arrived a couple of minutes before 7a.

It turns out there was a line, but it was indoors (mercifully, since it was quite cold).  As noted above, it was only 10 or so people, so were able to get in and get out in about 10 minutes.  Good thing, because Amy needs to hit the road by 7:15a to make it to work on Tuesdays.

The kids and I returned home and I let them watch TV while I ate breakfast and read the paper.  Then we headed out for school just like usual.  And I breathed a sigh of relief that we were able to squeeze voting into a busy morning.