Election Day

I am an election day nerd. I get excited days in advance. I watch all of the election night coverage on television, even in non-presidential-election years.

I think my parents have a lot to do with this. My mother, father, and stepmother all vote in every election. Often when I was a child they would take me with them. My parents are divorced, and sometimes I would stay with my dad during the day, and go home with my mom at night, which sometimes meant that on election day I was at the polling place twice.

There was an air of mystery about it when I was a child. I would see people standing behind the little cubicles, punching away, and I always wondered what they were putting. My mom would let me come with her and watch.

I think I was helped along by the fact that I turned 18 in a presidential election year. I was too young to vote in the primary election, and I was very jealous of my friends who had their birthdays already and could. I did get to vote for president that year, and I was very excited. I often wondered if people who turned 18 the year of a presidential election were more likely to vote the first time out than people who turn 18 in an off year.

Today I was the first person to vote at my pricinct. There's a new voting method this year, and of course, I messed it up and had to ask for a new ballot. At least I realized it and did something about it right away before it went to be scanned. I will spend tonight watching coverage to see who becomes governor, and whether the Democrats take over Congress, or if the status quo is maintained.