The election is a week away. Are you registered to vote at your current address? Are you sure? Do you know where you're voting? Years ending in two (like 2012) involve Congressional Redistricting. This is a snooty government term which means, "We've had time to go throw the census results and fight over new boundary lines. You lose." Okay, that's pretty cynical, sometimes the government does make decisions that don't screw over the average person, I just don't have any recent examples.
Anyway, back to where to vote, when they change district lines you might end up in a new district. Minneapolis actually closed several polling places this year, too, because things weren't confusing enough. Well, that, and staffing a polling site for sixteen hours for less than a thousand voters is not fiscally sound. Yup, they are actually trying to save our money. Oooo! A recent example! That was too easy.
When you get to the polls, you will be helped by Election Judges. These are people who make roughly minimum wage (some actually do it for free) arrive at six in the morning to set up, stay until every voter who was at the polls before eight p.m. has voted, clean up the place and finally get to leave. I was usually done by 9:30, but my old site closed for being too small, I have no idea how late the new one will be. Please be patient with us. We are not regular, full-time employees of the elections departments. We are ordinary people, retired folks, workers who took a vacation day, college students cutting class ~ we do this because without us, you might have to vote by appointment and still stand in line for hours. Imagine if half the election judges quit, there would be half as many polling places ~ and you think the lines are long now.
The Election Judges will sign you in (if you're pre-registered) sign you up (if your state allows same day registration) give you your ballot, answer any questions about how it works, help ensure your ballot is counted, all while remaining impartial. Think about that. If you've been reading this blog, you know I'm opinionated, yet I absolutely cannot share that opinion on election day. It's so very, very hard. But more important than difficult, so I shut the heck up.
Your Election Judges will try very hard to serve you. Please try to be patient if it takes us a minute to find your new polling place ~ we cannot possibly memorize every address in town. We'll try to patient even if you're the 102nd person to insist, wrongly, that this is your spot.
Go to Can I Vote to find out where to go and what you need to bring. This is a nationwide website set up by Elections Officials to help everyone find what they need. Every link on this post takes you there. Please vote. Even if we disagree on every single candidate and issue, please vote. Democracy works best when everyone is involved.
In 2008, in Minneapolis, two election judges helped a woman with curbside voting (for those who can't make it all the way to the poll) because she was in labor and refused to go to the hospital until she voted. That, by the way, is why do it, cause democracy rocks!
Anyway, back to where to vote, when they change district lines you might end up in a new district. Minneapolis actually closed several polling places this year, too, because things weren't confusing enough. Well, that, and staffing a polling site for sixteen hours for less than a thousand voters is not fiscally sound. Yup, they are actually trying to save our money. Oooo! A recent example! That was too easy.
When you get to the polls, you will be helped by Election Judges. These are people who make roughly minimum wage (some actually do it for free) arrive at six in the morning to set up, stay until every voter who was at the polls before eight p.m. has voted, clean up the place and finally get to leave. I was usually done by 9:30, but my old site closed for being too small, I have no idea how late the new one will be. Please be patient with us. We are not regular, full-time employees of the elections departments. We are ordinary people, retired folks, workers who took a vacation day, college students cutting class ~ we do this because without us, you might have to vote by appointment and still stand in line for hours. Imagine if half the election judges quit, there would be half as many polling places ~ and you think the lines are long now.
The Election Judges will sign you in (if you're pre-registered) sign you up (if your state allows same day registration) give you your ballot, answer any questions about how it works, help ensure your ballot is counted, all while remaining impartial. Think about that. If you've been reading this blog, you know I'm opinionated, yet I absolutely cannot share that opinion on election day. It's so very, very hard. But more important than difficult, so I shut the heck up.
Your Election Judges will try very hard to serve you. Please try to be patient if it takes us a minute to find your new polling place ~ we cannot possibly memorize every address in town. We'll try to patient even if you're the 102nd person to insist, wrongly, that this is your spot.
Go to Can I Vote to find out where to go and what you need to bring. This is a nationwide website set up by Elections Officials to help everyone find what they need. Every link on this post takes you there. Please vote. Even if we disagree on every single candidate and issue, please vote. Democracy works best when everyone is involved.
In 2008, in Minneapolis, two election judges helped a woman with curbside voting (for those who can't make it all the way to the poll) because she was in labor and refused to go to the hospital until she voted. That, by the way, is why do it, cause democracy rocks!
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