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I Voted, 2020 Edition
Nov. 1st, 2020 12:10 pmIt only took four tries, but I finally got to vote.
It's a strange thing. New York isn't even a question, on the presidential election maps. The last time it went red was the 1988 landslide for George H.W. Bush (who won every state but Massachusetts). Neither candidate has campaigned here, there are barely any political ads playing, we never show up in any polling data, and while my county went red in 2016 and likely will again (yeah, I want to vomit), New York City is so deeply Democratic and so heavily populated that the rest of the state barely matters.
That being said, the lines for early voting have been staggering. All week, even when we were getting hit with the tail end of Hurricane Zeta, the lines were hours long. But I thought I'd make one last ditch effort today, before having to vote on Tuesday. I got to the polling place and for the first time, they had reserved spots for handicapped parking.
Which was nice, not too far from the entrance to the polling place. Then I started walking. And walking. And walking.
OH MY GOD.
The line was FOUR HOURS LONG. Okay, color me amazed at the level of civic engagement here in New York.
I was waiting about twenty minutes when I noticed a hand-lettered sign that said "Absentee Ballots and Handicapped Voters Please Go To Front of the Line". So I trekked all the way back and asked the poll workers if this was correct. They asked to see my handicapped card, which was in my car (naturally). I offered to show my chemotherapy infusion port, and they let me right in (I guess cancer is good for something).
I checked in, and also confirmed that my father, who has been dead for ten years - and two presidential election cycles - is still on the electoral roles. Which is more than passing strange, since he's never lived at the address on the electoral rolls, and I've sent copies of his death certificate to the local Board of Elections. Some people get struck from the rolls for no reason, some people can't get off the rolls, even for the best of reasons.
And so, Dear Reader, I voted. D, right across the top line, as if that would ever be a question. I have done my civic duty and can sleep just a little easier for that.
It's a strange thing. New York isn't even a question, on the presidential election maps. The last time it went red was the 1988 landslide for George H.W. Bush (who won every state but Massachusetts). Neither candidate has campaigned here, there are barely any political ads playing, we never show up in any polling data, and while my county went red in 2016 and likely will again (yeah, I want to vomit), New York City is so deeply Democratic and so heavily populated that the rest of the state barely matters.
That being said, the lines for early voting have been staggering. All week, even when we were getting hit with the tail end of Hurricane Zeta, the lines were hours long. But I thought I'd make one last ditch effort today, before having to vote on Tuesday. I got to the polling place and for the first time, they had reserved spots for handicapped parking.
Which was nice, not too far from the entrance to the polling place. Then I started walking. And walking. And walking.
OH MY GOD.
The line was FOUR HOURS LONG. Okay, color me amazed at the level of civic engagement here in New York.
I was waiting about twenty minutes when I noticed a hand-lettered sign that said "Absentee Ballots and Handicapped Voters Please Go To Front of the Line". So I trekked all the way back and asked the poll workers if this was correct. They asked to see my handicapped card, which was in my car (naturally). I offered to show my chemotherapy infusion port, and they let me right in (I guess cancer is good for something).
I checked in, and also confirmed that my father, who has been dead for ten years - and two presidential election cycles - is still on the electoral roles. Which is more than passing strange, since he's never lived at the address on the electoral rolls, and I've sent copies of his death certificate to the local Board of Elections. Some people get struck from the rolls for no reason, some people can't get off the rolls, even for the best of reasons.
And so, Dear Reader, I voted. D, right across the top line, as if that would ever be a question. I have done my civic duty and can sleep just a little easier for that.
