Voter Watching

I voted in the Virginia primary this morning, and I found the experience fascinating. The setup for voting is different than what we had in Arizona. There was much less emphasis on privacy (a casual glance to the right or left at the very closely spaced voting machines, combined with the large print on the screens, would make it very easy to snoop on the other voters. This was also the first time I used an electronic ballot device. In Arizona, we had to draw black lines to connect a couple of bars on a piece of paper for each vote on a ballot. Today it was all about touching a computer screen. Quick and simple, I admit, but I couldn't help but think of all the stories of techical glitches in other settings. There's no paper trail left to confirm my vote.

The really interesting part of the experience was watching the people. In Jeffersonton, we vote in our little post office / community center building. It's got country charm in spades! When I arrived there were about 30 people in a line that snaked around between mismatched folding tables. A charming gentleman greeted everyone at the door with an extremely crisp and professional personality. I got in line and began watching all the people in front of me. What a wonderful mix of personalities!

I smiled at an older woman who shuffled very slowly through the line and had to ask the volunteers to repeat themselves several times so that she could hear clearly. She was all dressed up with large clip-on earrings, an old tweed coat, and short-but-thick heels. It took her a couple of minutes to find her driver's license in her handbag. I wondered how many elections she has seen in her lifetime; I bet she has some wonderful stories to tell. It would have been easy to stay at home and figure that her vote wouldn't matter much among the other millions, but she was there bright and early nonetheless.

On the other side of the spectrum, there was a very young man just a couple of places in front of me in line. He looked about 18 or 19, and I noticed that his eyes were darting everywhere, soaking it all in. When he got to the front of the line, I heard the volunteer jokingly ask if he was old enough to vote, and another volunteer ask if this was his first election. Apparently it was. He seemed eager to receive his ballot and make his choice known. And I wondered what elections he will face in the future, and how his generation will drive the direction of our nation.

As I waited in line and watched all the people, I started playing a little game in my mind. I began sizing up the people and trying to guess whether they would request a Democrat ballot or a Republican one. It was easy enough to see if I was right or not because they would have to pick up their ballot from different tables. I sort of hate to admit it, but I began making my guesses based on rather broad stereotypes based on how the person looked, how they carried themselves, what their voice sounded like when they spoke, etc. The really eerie thing is that out of the 26 people I counted after starting to take my guesses, I was right 100% of the time. I pegged every single one of them as either a Republican or a Democrat based on nothing other than a cliché first impression. Scary, huh? Perhaps I should consider moonlighing as an election consultant. (Heaven knows I live in the right area of the country now! Bwa ha ha ha!)

When it was all done and I had cast my vote, I proudly picked up my "I Voted" American flag sticker and headed to the office. I'm always impressed with the election process in our nation; we have such extraordinary freedom! Though there was a officer in uniform at the site, there really wasn't any fear of trouble. Everyone was extremely cooperative. People respected each other's privacy even though that would have been easy to violate. Though we were all in line to cast differing opinions, there was still a sense of unity in the experience. It's such an easy blessing to take for granted.

(And, no, I'm not posting who I voted for. All I'll say is that there really isn't anyone on either ballot that gets me excited; most of the names actually make me feel more apprehensive about where our country is heading. What's more, I suspect that my chosen candidate won't win the national election anyways.)