My Election Day Experience

I was a poll checker for the NH Democratic Party in my ward this afternoon. I figured in the polling place, away from any "electioneering", the tv and the internet was the sanest place for me to be. The turnout seemed very high. The majority of names on all the pages of the poll books I saw were checked off as having voted either in person or by absentee. There seemed to be as many new voters registering and voting as there were registered voters casting their ballots.
I voted at around 7:30 this morning, which seemed to be late enough to miss the early morning opening time rush. I was at the polls from about 2:45 pm to almost 7 pm. I was expecting to see a late afternoon rush, but I think it was busier from 3 to 5 than it was from 5 to 7. I think everyone was expecting to encounter long lines and decided to vote early. There weren't really any appreciable lines the entire time I was there. It got busy, but the polling place was run very efficiently. I liked being there. In future elections I think I'd like to work as a poll worker rather than a partisan participant. It was cool to see the wide variety of folks coming out to participate in our democracy.

It's Finally Here

After I got out of the shower this morning a song popped into my head. I'm full of cautious optimism at the moment since I already went to cast my vote. And yet...

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
--- The Who

Secretary of Suck

I recently read somewhere that NH's official state voter information website was ranked last of all 50 states. I'd say that's about right. They don't even have the proper poll hours or voting locations listed for my town. I called the Secretary of State a couple of minutes ago to ask if the information on their site was correct because I had read something different on my town's website. The reply I got from the SOS was that, if indeed the voting hours and a polling location were not as stated on the SOS website, it was my town's fault for not informing the SOS of the new information. To follow up on this I just called the Dover City Clerk's office and reconfirmed the information on their website and also told the woman that the SOS website had old info and told me it was Dover's fault for not letting them know the current info. The woman told me they informed the SOS of the changes after the primary in January and that she would call them about it again.
What kind of nonsense is this when the state agency in charge of elections has a website with an election news page reporting 2004 and 2006 results and and an Elections Division page that looks like someone composed it with the wysisyg editor from Netscape Navigator. So much for the "high tech" state of New Hampshire.
I know it's late in the game to get anything done about this, but if you have an extra moment give the state Election Division folks a call at 603-271-3242 and ask them about the accuracy of the information contained on their site. Maybe they'll do something about if before the next elections roll around.

22 Hours Until It Starts!

I can't wait for Election Day to start and end already. I've been trying to think about what to obsess about next. It will probably be about knitting up holiday presents and whether or not Pierce Law will actually merge with UNH thus allowing me to actually consider going for a law degree without plunging myself into serious debt with student loans.
I started volunteering one evening a week with the Obama campaign back in early September. That approach worked well for me. I put in a decent number of hours and yet didn't burn out. Tomorrow afternoon I will be volunteering in my local ward polling place as a poll watcher. I think it will be a good place to be. There is no electioneering allowed inside the polling place. I will be away from the TV and the internet until at least after 7 pm, which means I won't be checking my "regular" sites every 2 minutes to see if anything new is posted.

SNL

I hope these guys are tonight's musical guests on Saturday Night Live with Sarah Palin.

Some Knitting to Break Up the Political Crap

Evangeline On Fire
Originally uploaded by bassbot

These are the fingerless gloves I made from the yarn I dyed a couple of weeks back. Don't they look toasty? (Except for my finger tips which will be sticking out all cold and what not. I don't care.)
Today I had a lunchtime knitting session with some ladies at school who I hooked up with via Ravelry. Knitting and chatting at work!? God I love the internet and all the fun it brings.

Palin Comes to Town

I tried to leave the house a little early today because I figured Mrs. Palin's impending visit to our local high school this morning was going to make traffic a nightmare. Doors to the event open at 9 and we're usually in the area about 90 minutes before that. Of course, we ended up leaving at our regular time and traffic was normal to light for that time of day. There were a few McCain/Palin lawn signs stuck in the median and other public properties along the road leading up to the school. One of those signs was placed to block part of a very large (6 feet tall?) stark sign that read, "Inferring that Obama is a terrorist is racist and un-Christian." I liked that.
The house across the street from the entrance to the high school had a McSame/Sara Bush sign on the lawn. Aside from the signs and saw horses set up to proclaim there will be no parking along roads people usually don't park along anyway, there didn't seem to be much going on other than kids going to school.

Feeling Touchy, Are You?

I don't think I wrote anything particularly offensive in my last post, but some spammy commenter seemed to feel offended enough to leave a trollish comment. Fear and desperation drives some people to show their worst sides. It's too bad.