[rasiasertew]

My day began watching MSNBC and CNN for election coverage. Watching Obama take like 15 minutes to fill out his ballot (yikes, is the IL ballot that complicated, or was he just taking his time knowing the cameras were on him?) Funny note during the show, Bill Ayers came in to vote at the same polling place like 20 minutes before Obama did.

I then (once I got my internet working) went online to do some research on the school board candidates. One district I decided pretty much solely on the fact that one wanted to include discussion of homosexuality & contraception in sex ed , and the other didn't . The other school board seat I decided partly based on that, partially cause the incumbent (one of the few Republicans in local government in the county, and a guy I usually vote for) seems to just be a total ******* and is said to have beaten up a fellow Republican candidate over some financial issues.

I voted at 9:30 this morning down at the elementary school I usually vote at. Usually the polling location is fairly sleepy, I'd never stood behind 2-3 people before voting. This time they had a bit of a line, maybe 20-25 people. Of course I usually go in the middle of the day and today I went earlier, so that could be a factor too.

It was fairly painless. I changed my party affiliation there when I checked in, the poll worker didn't seem too informed about how to do it (though I've seen her at past elections) but with some help she figured it out fairly quickly. I change my party affiliation based on which primary I want to vote in, and typically here in Maryland the democratic primaries are more interesting. I just switched to the GOP this year so I could vote for Ron Paul, but I just switched back today in preparation for the next set of primaries.

I talked a bit with one of the guys in charge and he said that at 9:30 am they had already seen half the number of voters who voted in 2004. He figures we'll have record turnout.

I went in to vote and it took me all of 20 seconds to cast my ballot on the touch screen. Honestly I think half the reason there are back-ups and delays at voting booths is because people just take too damn long voting. It isn't that complicated.

I voted for Bob Barr for President and a Libertarian candidate for US House. Some judge elections were unopposed, so I just voted for the incumbent. Other judge elections asked whether X Judge should serve another term or not, and I voted no on both of those. Anti-incumbent motivation.

Most importantly, I voted for all four ballot measures. The first one allowed early voting in the state, a very good idea to allow more people a chance to vote. The second statewide measure, and the more controversial one, is to allow slots in the state. I voted yes, since the budget is a mess, and I'd much rather have slots than more taxes.

The first county ballot measure just removes some parts from the county charter that were invalidated by a court for conflicting with state law. Seemed like a housecleaning measure, so sure. The last one was a requirement that the county council vote unanimously in order to raise taxes. I voted yes for this as well.

Then I got my sticker.

My girlfriend said it was mad chaos voting down in DC. Long lines, poll workers shouting at people, pushing, everything very confusing and hectic. Lots of frustrated people. Maryland was smooth sailing though.