Misbehavior in the Polling Booth

"Are you ready to vote?" the woman inside the polling place asked me.

"Oh, I am so ready to vote!" I answered.

We all laughed.

Today was the day. After what seems to have been an endless campaign, voting day was finally here. As I write this, the polls haven't closed anywhere yet and I'm trying so hard not to listen to everyone who says that McCain has no hope of pulling off a coup. Bad luck...bad luck...bad luck....

Walt and I walked over to the polling place around 10 a.m. this morning. I had to decide what to wear to vote. This was a big day and I wanted to dress appropriately. I finally decided on the t-shirt from our family reunion a few years ago. Why? Because (a) it was blue, and (b) because the family motto (printed on the shirt) is "I make sure." I wanted to make sure to vote for Obama and against Proposition 8.

Walt says "I was trying to decide what to wear to the polling place" is the quote of the day. But--hey!--this was serious business.

As we arrived at the polling place, I received this cell phone photo from Jeri.

She says she and Phil waited in line 30 minutes to place their vote. I immediately whipped out my cell phone and took this one to send to her:

We waited about 30 seconds to vote here. One of the real perks of living in a small town. But I was heartened to see that 111 people had already voted before us. It's rare to see that many at that hour of the day. Sometimes I vote at 10 a.m. and I'm the third person to vote. It was a good sign, I hoped.

Of course, there is little question about whether Obama will get California's electoral votes or not. California is pretty much a democratic lock. But still... And there is still Prop 8 to worry about.

I took a picture of myself casting my vote for what I hope will be the first African American president. This was an historic moment and I wanted to record it. Win or lose, my vote was historic.

When I finished voting, I picked up my "I voted" sticker and went outside to wait for Walt.

I stuck it on a table just outside the door and toook the photo above. Then I looked at the door into the voting area to see if Walt was coming out and saw this:

Oops! Owell, the damage had already been done and I only took a picture of my own ballot. I've had such practice at stealth photography that the camera was in and out of my purse, and held in front of me to take the picture, that I don't think anybody knew. According to Flickr, there were a lot of people who did the same thing.

But it's all over but the counting. So far, I haven't had a single request for money for Obama or to fight Prop 8, or for any other political cause today. It's a brief respite and I'm sure we are all enjoying it.

I hope you voted today -- no matter who got your vote.

My historic vote!

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President Obama. He won. He really won. I am speechless, and sit here, on this momentous occasion with tears streaming down my face. Our long nightmare is over...and our days of hope are ahead of us. God has indeed blessed America.