I don't think you could call it an adventure in the way some people
around the country are having "voting adventures" but it got me out of
the house, so I suppose, given the limited way I lead my life, you
could technically call it an "adventure" if you count walking to my
precinct, waiting in line and voting in that lofty category.
Surprisingly, given all the hubbub about record turnout and long lines,
it wasn't a hassle. I didn't honestly know what to expect so I just
made sure to clear my busy morning schedule and brought a radio headset
along in case things got boring. My voting district, specifically my
precinct, is one of the few majority Republican districts in a very
Democratic Hennepin County, Minnesota. We always have a high turnout
for elections---even for those of the local variety, so I wasn't really
surprised to see the line of voters snaking out the door. I was
surprised, however, to see that things were moving quickly. We may have
great turnout, but our poll workers, on the whole, don't move on
anyone's time other than their own. After waiting for about five
minutes outside of the polling place, the line moved inside and we were
directed in short order to check in. Then we received our ballots and
our instructions to fill in the little black circle fully, and off we
went...
All told, I spent about twenty minutes in line and voting. The only
problem of the whole excursion was that I goofed when sliding my ballot
into the scanner and it shot it back out. I tried again, after
receiving some coaching from the attendant and it slid in. At 10:30a.m.
CST, when I cast my ballot into the scanner, the machine said my ballot
was the five hundred and sixth cast today. The polls opened at seven,
so you do the math. The Cake Eater Cops were actively patrolling the
parking lot and the area surrounding the polling area, looking to
squash trouble, but there was none to be found. We didn't have any
Moveon.org hecklers---there weren't even any campaigners beyond the 100
feet boundary. It was quiet and democracy was working. The only thing I
found interesting---and disconcerting---was that when the poll worker
checked me in, I could see that the husband was still on the voting
rosters. Hmmmph. To be quick about this admission in case you haven't
been reading the Cake Eater Chronicles very long: the husband is a
convicted felon. It was a felony DWI and NO
he didn't run a busload of nuns off the road: he drove into a ditch and
has never hurt anyone other than himself with his actions. His record
simply worked against him in this instance, but anyway he's on
probation until 2008 and in accordance with federal law, he is not
allowed to vote in any election: his civil rights have been suspended
as part of his punishment. Yet the Hennepin County Board of Elections
apparently hadn't been made aware of this development. Hmmph. The last
time I voted was last year---we had a property tax referendum and I
went to vote and the husband didn't, just assuming his information
would have been removed from the rosters. Well, since his name is
directly below mine on the roster you have to sign before you receive
your ballot, it would have been hard to miss that his name was where it
wasn't supposed to be. I told him about it and we had an interesting
argument about taking advantage of government bureaucracy goofs. He
ultimately chose not to vote that day, even though he could have easily
done so with no one the wiser, because he didn't want to cause trouble.
I thought his name might be on there this time, but I thought it
improbable: enough time has passed that I thought they might have
caught it.
Nope.
The husband, to be clear about it, is NOT voting today. He
doesn't want to cause problems, so he's enforcing the law where the
state has been lax in doing so. But it makes me wonder. How many other
felons are still on the rolls in Minnesota and are casting ballots
today? I do not know whether the burden is on the government to clear
the rosters of felons, or if the burden is on the felons themselves to
restrain from voting, but that just doesn't sound right given the nanny
state I live in.
Anyway, that's the voting story. Right now, I'm taking the husband to
Dairy Queen because if I go in there with my "I Voted!" sticker on, I
get a free small cone that I'm going to give to him because of his
sacrifice.
It seems the least I can do to reward him for his fight for Democracy!