I voted on Monday, which was the first day of the one-week early voting period in Maryland. I knew that I wanted to vote early but I didn’t have a plan, other than to go sometime during the week. I’ve always loved voting on Election Day, but I expect two- to three-hour waits that day, and it’s a workday for me. But the early voting location was very crowded and busy at 5:30 PM; and it felt almost festive, despite the floor signs, placed as six-foot-intervals, reminding us to maintain six feet of distance between ourselves and the voter in front of us; hashtagged #StoptheSpread. It seems silly to print a hashtag on a sign, but if it makes them happy then I won’t complain.
I parked my car at the far end of the lot and walked into the building, wondering why every community center in Maryland smells like chlorine. This one doesn’t even have a swimming pool but maybe they’re bleaching everything to kill the ‘rona. Anyway, the Queensguard Community Center is a very nice building: airy and light and clean and modern; with skylight windows near the ceiling and terra cotta-like tiles on the floors and bright, well-appointed meeting rooms and exercise rooms separated from the corridor by walls of aluminum-framed windows. The line moved very quickly but I wouldn’t have minded a longer wait in such a nice space.
I took notes using my phone, blithely ignoring the signs forbidding their use. The signs were in Spanish, so I could always pretend not to understand them. And although I am generally a rule follower, I do need rules to make sense and it doesn't make any sense to tell grown people that they can't use their phones in a taxpayer-funded public building. I know my rights. That's why I'm here.
As the line moved down the long corridor toward the gym where the actual voting was happening, an officious election judge was loudly reminding a young volunteer how to count the voters as they entered the building. I heard her say 940, and then she turned toward the line of people and bellowed "Attention everyone. We have checked in 940 voters so far on this first day of early voting, and it's not even 6 o'clock!" She was rewarded by a quick but enthusiastic round of applause. I'd have waited until 1,000 to make that announcement. But of course, I probably wouldn't have made an announcement at all. I don’t like to attract attention. I’m an under-the-radar and behind-the-scenes kind of girl.
I checked in, and a friendly volunteer handed me a large manila folder with my ballot card; and then I waited in one last line for my turn to actually vote. A tiny woman, a bit older than me but not much, was in line directly in front of me. She was very casually well-dressed, in dark jeans and boots and a very nice wine-colored wool jacket. Her short-cropped spiky hair was stylishly colored, and she was carrying a beautiful black shoulder bag. She too was ignoring the no-phones signs, scrolling through her news feed as she waited her turn. I saw her heavy-framed statement glasses when she glanced backward for a moment, and then the volunteer who was managing the line called her forward, leaving me first in line. I waited another minute, and then it was my turn.
It didn’t take long for me to finish voting. I had to read one of the ballot questions a second time to make sure that I understood what a yes or no vote on that question would actually mean, but I was firmly decided on the other questions and candidates, so I was finished in two minutes. I thanked the volunteer and went on my way. As I walked out of the building through the same long corridor, I saw that the line to vote stretched out the door and a few yards down the sidewalk. There were easily 60 people in that line, likely including the day’s 1,000th voter. The lady who had voted ahead of me was in the parking lot, taking a selfie in front of a huge Biden-Harris sign attached to a high fence just past the no-electioneering perimeter, so I guess I know whom she voted for, if I couldn’t have guessed it by looking at her.
It’s Wednesday now, just five more days before this is all over--the voting part, at least. I hope that we’ll have a result next week, but I’m resigned to the very real likelihood that we won’t. But I did my part, and that’s all a person can do. Decision 2020 is a wrap.
No comments:
Post a Comment