A light drizzle met me at the polls this morning, but little else.
It was about 8AM when I pulled into an open space near the door of the Welcome Center. The polls had been open for an hour.
Our community in Monroe County, PA is so large that we have our own place to vote. Most people who live there would have to drive passed this building to get to just about anywhere. Yet as I neared the traffic light, all of the cars ahead of me continued forward while I turned right.
There were three people doing some last minute electioneering in the parking lot. I stopped for a moment to hear them out. Then I entered the polling place, nodded at the guard as I walked by, and reached the main part of the building. Several workers looked up with surprise.
“Good morning.”
As they searched for my name in the registration book, I mentioned that it was awfully quiet in there.
“The calm before the storm,” the woman behind the desk announced.
“Oh, are you expecting a storm of voters?”
No one answered. A few chuckled.
“Democrat or Republican,” she asked, pointing to the two stacked slips of paper with “D” and “R” printed on them.
“Democrat,” I answered, thinking that that information should be next to my name in the book. I’m surprised that they are taking my word for it.
I hand my “D” to the man in front of the nearest of five voting booths. He smiles, parts the curtain, and asks if I need help.
“No, I’m fine, thanks.”
Minutes later, I’m back on the road, having seen only one other voter.
As I drive to work, I can’t help but think of how different and subdued this experience has been in comparison to what people in some other countries face when participating in their elections.
For citizens of Afghanistan and Iraq, attempting to vote is an act of courage. They know that they may die while voting – yet many still do. They risk much. Others are afraid, so they stay away.
Who could blame them?
No one is blowing up polling places here in the United States, but voter turnout numbers are still expected to be miserably low.
Imagine how low the turnout would be if our lives depended on it.
Funny, I thought that they already did.
Author Bio:
Ray Colon has written 136 posts on Ray's Blog.
He works with numbers for a living, but don't judge - boring accountants need love too. His blog has no niche (unless writing about things that are important to him is a niche). Some folks cringe when he gets “all political” on them, but he does it anyway when he's in that kind of mood. Sometimes, he writes something nice about someone, but you shouldn't get used to that. His first book, the one he hasn't written yet, is not available on Amazon. Subscribe to Ray's Blog via RSS or Email.
