Exercising a Right to Vote

Yesterday was Election Day in North Carolina for various county and town offices. One of those in-between elections that usually does not get much attention, at least not by the majority of voters.

I spend my entire day at Cary Academy where I worked as a precinct official for the first time in my life. I had been involved with elections before as a volunteer, registering voters. I also once was a poll observer as an emissary of one of the parties. Being in an official capacity rounded out my education in election rules and regulations.

Voter turnout at our precinct was very moderate. We had been given 1900 ballots and only used 381 of them. The number of voters rarely outnumbered the number of precinct officials at any given time.

What were my observations of the day?

1. There are so many checks and balances in the process that I am completely confident that the voting process in Wake County is beyond reproach.
2. Voting seems to be a family virtue. There were many instances of a husband AND wife voting, together or separately.
3. There were only very few people under the age of 30 who voted.

AND

4. I cannot imagine having a desk job and being obligated to sit for extended periods of time.

In summary: the day was fun in a twisted kind of way. I love meeting new people, and I certainly did that. I also like learning new things. I may just have a new job once or twice a year.