Determined to Vote

Unfortunately, such an exciting day didn’t start off so well for me. I had been sick all weekend and it carried over into this week. I was unable to attend classes today, and only made it to work for a few hours.
After work, around 2:30, I made my way to Burcham Hills on Burcham Dr. in East Lansing. I originally planned on voting absentee, but having never had that experience before I wanted to make sure everything went smoothly. I decided to register at my apartment here in E. Lansing. It took me a while to find the location. In my mind, I was worried about how long I would have to stand in line. At one point, I felt I was too ill to stand in a line for hours. But I sucked it up, and said that this was a history making day, so I had no choice.
When I arrived, I saw that there weren’t as many cars there as I was expecting. This made me hope that I wouldn’t have to wait in line for the expected hours I had heard about. And my hopes were fulfilled. There weren’t that many people there, and there was a mix of young, middle aged, and older people there to cast their votes.
When I came in, there was one man in particular who was talking extremely loud. I am not even sure what he was talking about, but whatever it was, he thought it was extremely funny. I ignored him and moved on to my line where it was explained to me how to vote and what exactly to do.
I made sure I read everything carefully, and didn’t vote for people or proposals for Lansing that I am not familiar with since I am not from here. I figured it was better for me not to vote, than to just guess vote for people and things I had no information on.
All in all, my experience went well. I was able to get in and out in a matter of about 20 minutes. And though I wasn’t able to make it to my night class, I was able to take some meds, crawl in bed, take a nap, and watch the election unfold.
History was made!

Obama nation

I didn't get to vote until about 7 p.m. today because of work and class responsibilities, but when I got there to the polls it went relatively smoothly. Because I'm registered in East Lansing north of Lake Lansing Road, the majority of the people I was waiting in line with weren't students. It was interesting to listen to the different opinions of those in line -- unlike a lot of students I know, most of these folks were pretty calm about the election. There weren't many -- if any -- outspoken voters that I heard or saw.

Unlike a lot of the people's stories I've heard, I didn't have very long to wait to vote. I would guess 10 minutes to 15 minutes, as opposed to the hours that many of my classmates and co-workers waited.

Despite being a journalist, I don't consider myself a very politically-minded person. I care very little who wins the presidential election. Both John McCain and Barack Obama care more about their ambition than the country. That's the most ironic thing about this or any election -- those who could probably make the best decisions for our country's well-being will never run because they don't care about power. And since the people that run for election care more about keeping their power than doing "the right" thing, we'll never be in the hands of anyone capable who can.

Election Day

As I walked into Berkley's City Hall this morning at 7:40 am, I was completely impressed with how many people showed up to vote. Although Berkley is a small town, with only about 15,000 people and 6 places to vote, the line went out of the building, and continued down to the corner of the next street. Little did my dad and I know that the line was this long when we decided to "beat the crowd." That's what we get for parking on the other side of the building, which concealed the line.

After an hour and 45 minutes, it was finally my turn to vote. This was my first presidential election where I could vote and I wanted to make sure that I did everything correctly. I looked over my ballot three or four times, just to make sure I filled in enough bubbles when I had the option of more than one candidate, and the cute little old lady accepting the finished ballots asked me if I wanted a sticker. I said yes, of course.

I didn't hear the crowd talking about either candidate, they were all more concerned with how long the wait was and how they would all be late for work.

Overall, I enjoyed my voting experience and can't wait to watch all the coverage tonight.

Election Day experience

To make sure I wouldn't be late for work Tuesday, I headed to the polling location around 8:30 a.m. I've heard long lines were typical, and even though I live in Mason, a small town mostly of farmers, I didn't want to risk it. When I got to City Hall, I realized how smooth the process actually was. Before entering the building I filled out a slip of paper with my name and address on it, which I handed to those checking in my precinct. After that, I went down to the basement where two of the three precincts of Mason were voting.

The line was moving pretty fast, which seemed to be what everyone was talking about. It probably took me longer to fill out the actual ballot than get checked in and wait in line. Through my 20-minute experience, I didn't notice any problems as far as campaigning. Outside the building I saw one sign saying you can't wear anything related to the candidates, but no one was necessarily checking this. When standing in line in the basement, one well-dressed young man made a comment to a friend to make sure he "was voting for the right man." This annoyed me mostly because I'm sure he voted the other way than I did, but it was really the only instance where it seemed someone was trying to sway another person.

Because the results have not come out yet, the media seems to cover things equally, relating stories of what the public expects each candidate to do if elected and such. I'm looking forward, sorta, to working tonight during this election and seeing how the media handles things tomorrow.

Get out the vote!

Approaching the polls of Precinct 15 at Wilson Hall, it was made clear that it was Election Day. Election signs for candidates and proposals lined the courtyard of South Complex speckled with students handing out pamphlets on the candidates.

Rock the Vote had a table set up outside the east side of the dorm with a sign asking ‘Confused About Voting?’ dispersing more information about who, what and how. From the outside of the building it didn’t seem that too many had turned out to vote during mid-afternoon. Once I entered the building the line stretched down the hall, from the polls to the doors, almost reaching outside.

It was a sea of students. Everyone that I saw was college aged, even the volunteers. To me, it was a very surprising turnout. Most were there with a voting companion and chit chatted about their days donning the color of their party, red or blue, since supportive apparel is not allowed. Sample ballots hung throughout the line and cafeteria workers manned a table of beverages and cookies.

As students exited the polls they proudly stuck their ‘I voted today’ stickers on their shirts and some went crazy with multiple stickers. The vibe and mood conveyed at the precinct was excitement—excitement to vote, maybe for the first time; to be a part of history; to make a difference.

However, as a stood around observing I overheard two girls walking past the line, one asking the other, “What are all of these people in line for?” Completely oblivious and ignorant to the fact that it was Nov. 4, 2008, Election Day!

I was so disgusted and appalled for someone to ask that. What American or resident of this country does not know about Election Day? Especially in a year when a black man and the oldest man are running for president and there is a women vice presidential candidate.

How someone could be so ignorant shocked me. I was also so shocked that someone could be so sheltered from the world around them. The students of this campus have been inundated with information about getting out the vote, the candidates, rallies, counter rallies, a visit from Barack Obama himself, stories in the campus newspaper along with other media outlets and even Facebook.

I am proud of all the students that I saw waiting to cast their vote and the proud looks on their faces to be an American and get out the vote.