Getting out the vote

When you work 14 hours, it's a long day. But when you're doing something you believe in, it's worth it.

Even if it requires getting up at 4 a.m.

I'm not much of a morning person. I would really prefer to stay up really late and sleep in. But most of the time, life doesn't work that way. Yesterday included, when I had to report for my day as an election judge at 5 a.m. Let me tell you, the 4 a.m. alarm is not an easy way to awaken. Though truth be told, I'd been awake much of the night anyway - I tend to have restless nights when I know I have to get up extra early and don't dare oversleep.

I was given the job of programming voting cards - not the most challenging task, but necessary. And I didn't have to answer hard questions or defer people to supervisors or tell them their registration wasn't valid - all those bugs were worked out before they got to me, so I merely programmed their ballot, gave them simple directions, and sent them on their way. And I got picked to assist voters, so it was win-win-win.

The day went incredibly smoothly. Most amazing was that we were not busy. At all. There was a line already when I got there at 5, anxious types who were anticipating huge crowds and long waits. By 6.30 the polling place was hopping, and I got a little nervous. I was afraid we would get so busy I would forget to vote, so the minute I saw a lull, I jumped in line.

I needn't have worried. Once the 6.30 rush ended, that was it. We were steadily busy all day, but there was never a wait or a crowd again. Not for the entire day. We thought lunch time would get busy, then we assumed around 5 would be busy. At 5.59 p.m, we had two or three people voting and another checking in.

Apparently, the early voting push was successful. Those people waited up to 45 minutes to vote.

Heh.

I assisted a few elderly voters, which was quite satisfying (even if I had to help them cast votes that I never would have). Most people were upbeat and very excited.

My co-worker started to drive me crazy. As I said, we were not busy, and there were three of us programming ballot cards. So on several occasions, people did not know which one of us to choose. She turned it into a competition, trying to be the first to attract the voters. Which was fun, but she had to be so vocal, saying, I got it! or This one's mine!

Whatever - I started to just sit down and wait unless there were two or three people headed over at once. I don't need to play silly games. I only compete when it's important. You know, like in Mah Jongg. Or Halloween costumes.

We had about 2200 people through the vote center yesterday. Many, many of them were first-time voters; many of them were young, but some were older. They would shyly admit that this was their first time, letting me know they were nervous or unsure. I told them they were fine, that the touch-screen machines are very easy to use, and they could always ask for assistance.

Mostly, I was struck by how empowering it must have felt for many of these people - young people, especially young black men, voting for the very first time. People who must have felt that their vote was meaningless until now. Suddenly they found a reason to be involved, validation that the American dream is real and does apply to people like them.

I don't generally watch The View anymore, but I watched a bit today. And Sherri Shepard told of looking at her son, and letting him know that from now on, he can aspire to anything he wants. Those dreams really can come true. Barack Obama has broken that barrier, and he has proven that in America, truly, anyone can dream of being president.

It was a historic day. I was glad to be part of it, even in a small way.