thanks for voting

thank you all, you who went to the polls and stood in line and finally got to the check-in desk and managed to get past the Id requirements, whatever they were, and then stood in line some more and finally voted.

you are what makes America great!

democracy can take a lot of time--some of you left the long lines and had to come back again (and again!) to finally get your turn at the polling booth. in my precinct, 75% of you decided to participate, and we were more busy than in any other election we could remember.

those who work at the polls are always happier when they are busy, and my goodness!, you did make us happy yesterday.

so, thanks! it's great you voted. :-)

I thought about the workers yesterday, what time do you have to be in there in able to get ready to open at 6am?

we arrive at 4:45, and it took us every minute until 6:00 to set up.

folks got in line from 5:05 onwards, we noticed.

this year we had to be ready to offer paper ballots as well as electronic voting, so there was extra work and training. the machine we got didn't work so another was sent out and up and running by 8:00.

when the polls closed at 7:00, there was no one in line, so we were counted up (yep, we do that before we leave!) and packed up and out the door by 8:45 pm. we are a very experienced group this year--some of us were working on our fourth election, what with primaries and bye-elections to fill local positions vacated by folks who won other elections.