I'm a Georgia Voter!
Well it took 2 hours of waiting, but I finally got to cast my votes :) We walked into the community center and there were 2 tiny lines right down the middle of the gym. Yay, it's not a long wait!! Wrong... a woman asked me if I was there to vote and I responded "yes ma'am" and I was instructed to go to the door and take a left down the hallway. There were trash cans with arrows along the way to a room with a TV (on CNN). There sat about 12 rows of chairs spanning about 20 across, all full of waiting voters. I decided now would be a good time to ditch the stroller and our coats and retrieve the snacks from the car. Great idea, Mommy! The snacks were a hit and worked for the first 45 minutes to keep the children relatively content. Noah and Tristan played peek-a-boo and bonked foreheads (I think this is the boy version of hugging) as we played musical chairs through the crowded room for the rest of the time.
There were men and women in uniform, old people, young people, couples, first time voters, blacks, whites, hispanics, moms with kids, pregnant women... all people who looked different, but were all in the same boat. Our area of Georgia is mostly middle-class, some lower, some upper. There were Obama supporters and McCain supporters. No one was judging anyone else, we were all just happy to be there to vote for whoever we chose. I talked with a McCain supporter and we both agreed that regardless of who gets elected, we're so low right now the only place left to go is up! I spoke with a first time voter who had no idea there were other candidates on the ballot for other positions. I told her if she was uncomfortable because she didn't know any of the candidates she didn't have to vote for anything but the President. She at least knew who she wanted for President (Obama). On the way out after casting my ballot I noticed there were 2 more rows of maybe 30 more chairs being filled with overflow from the CNN room. I also saw someone get kicked out of the location because he had an Obama shirt on, which I didn't know wasn't allowed but makes perfect sense. People need to be able to go vote without feeling uncomfortable or outnumbered.
This should be an interesting night. From what I saw at my polling place we should be just fine, regardless of the outcome. This election is more about US than the candidates. Both candidates are calling on us to do our parts, be more involved, and sacrifice a little for the good of our country. I don't think that's much to ask at all! If we all were more involved in our government they wouldn't be able to be so corrupt. We need to start holding these politicians accountable. I'm excited for the outcome, but glad my little part is over :) I can't wait to say goodbye to the Bush/Cheney years!!!!!!!
There were men and women in uniform, old people, young people, couples, first time voters, blacks, whites, hispanics, moms with kids, pregnant women... all people who looked different, but were all in the same boat. Our area of Georgia is mostly middle-class, some lower, some upper. There were Obama supporters and McCain supporters. No one was judging anyone else, we were all just happy to be there to vote for whoever we chose. I talked with a McCain supporter and we both agreed that regardless of who gets elected, we're so low right now the only place left to go is up! I spoke with a first time voter who had no idea there were other candidates on the ballot for other positions. I told her if she was uncomfortable because she didn't know any of the candidates she didn't have to vote for anything but the President. She at least knew who she wanted for President (Obama). On the way out after casting my ballot I noticed there were 2 more rows of maybe 30 more chairs being filled with overflow from the CNN room. I also saw someone get kicked out of the location because he had an Obama shirt on, which I didn't know wasn't allowed but makes perfect sense. People need to be able to go vote without feeling uncomfortable or outnumbered.
This should be an interesting night. From what I saw at my polling place we should be just fine, regardless of the outcome. This election is more about US than the candidates. Both candidates are calling on us to do our parts, be more involved, and sacrifice a little for the good of our country. I don't think that's much to ask at all! If we all were more involved in our government they wouldn't be able to be so corrupt. We need to start holding these politicians accountable. I'm excited for the outcome, but glad my little part is over :) I can't wait to say goodbye to the Bush/Cheney years!!!!!!!
