civic duty overload

I don't often pay much attention to local politics, but yesterday there was a proposition on library funding on the ballot, so I dragged myself out of bed to my designated polling station. This time it was in a small town next to me, and at 9:30 in the morning I was only the 30th person to vote. This is probably due to low voter turnout as much as anything else, but it reminded me of the time I voted for a presidential election in a mall in a small town in Iowa during college. My memory is a little fuzzy, but I seem to remember learning that they would set up the portable DMV at the same place. Right there in the middle of the mall, shoppers having to skirt around the cubicle-type walls and folding chairs.

Later in the day, to further increase my appearance as a patriotic person, I worked for a coworker at a "command center" (I believe that was the term used) collecting and taking inventory of the voting supplies being return by the local precincts. Before working we were all sworn in- which included an oath to uphold the constitution. I had never really thought about all the work involved in voting, and all the tired people returning the voting paraphernalia at the end of a long day. We didn't finish until 11pm.

Later I learned that the proposition for library funding didn't pass. *sigh*

On a lighter note, I realize that some of you might not have had the pleasure of seeing one of the best music videos ever made: America We Stand As One. It takes some time to load, but is well worth the wait.