vote on 5 February 2008 - Super Tuesday !

Gave my vote to Obama yesterday and he won Illinois! No surprise there, the people of IL know a good thing when they see it, and I’m proud to say it was us Illinoians who voted him in as Senator in the first place! Barrack all the way!

So I went to vote around 8 am and found the volunteers at my polling place looking confused and a bit desperate. They hadn’t been issued any of the little inker boxes so weren’t equipped to help us vote. They suggested we come back later. Or try another polling site.

I went back about 2 hours later and found that they still hadn’t solved the mystery of the missing inker thingy’s. Went to vote provisionally at another site. Now I’m learning (via the radio) that as someone who declined to state a party affiliation at registration, while I had the ability to vote in the Democratic primary, I was supposed to ink a special “Democratic” box on my ballot, in addition to my candidate of preference. Since I wasn’t instructed to do this, and didn’t, my vote may not count!

As someone on the relatively informed and motivated end of the voter spectrum, I’m concerned about what it might mean that there seem to be so many obstacles to my vote being counted. What about other people’s votes?

I kept reminding myself how many people around the world don’t have the right to vote, and how many people have died so that I have that right. A little bad weather, not enough parking, and a too small room shouldn’t matter that much to me.

I’m so excited to have just voted for a woman for President of the United States. She rocks!

I voted in the Democratic primary after work today at my polling place which was in someone’s garage around the corner from my apartment building. This was the first time I had to wait in line over 10 minutes to vote. It’s kind of exciting there’s so much interest. California really matters this time!

I’m independent but decided to participate in the Demorcatic primary since 1) Democrats were allowing independents to vote in their primary while Republicans were not and 2) since I’ve already decided in November I’m voting for whoever is the Democratic nominee (basically because I don’t want a more conservative Supreme Court).

I ended up voting for Barak Obama, not for any intellectual reason but mostly out of a general sense that it’s time for a fresh voice. This is highly unusual for me because I don’t normally vote on emotion. I think that Clinton would probably have a smoother transition and is probably more ready for the job, but… Well, I hope this choice isn’t a mistake!

In California, there were also several ballot initiatives (these are like referendums on individual issues) regarding issues like transportation and community college funding and a few regarding Indian gaming. I voted “no” on all the initiatives except for the one that limited when the state could borrow money from the transportation fund… I don’t like that there are so many initiatives, most of which are hard to understand. Why can’t the state legislature just do it’s job?

Returns are coming in! I’m so excited.

I love election night coverage!

to vote in a presidential primary. We have had some very interesting discussions at dinner. I look forward to hearing more of their views. It is an exciting time for our family.

And the place was packed. It’s not the first time I’ve voted (I’m 31), but it’s the first time I voted in a primary.

So I couldn’t vote using the fancy computers. The # on the card they insert for voting into the machine kept rejecting the #7 which was supposed to be MY party.

I had to stand there and bite my lip so I didn’t say anything insulting about why I changed my party affiliation in the first place.

I remember that day. I used to be the party you probably all assumed I was in. I switched to a different one, with whom the OTHER party likes to claim a kinship. They tried me to switch to their side.

Maybe later I will tell my first voting story, because I find it quite amusing… and in it I discuss my (then) party affiliation who couldn’t believe I was actually one of them~!

^{Anyway. I voted. Yay me.}

Whenever you are offered the opportunity, and whatever your views.