Meet Me In A Land Of Hope And Dreams

It’s going to be a long day of voting, from all the signs. I’d like to salute the unsung heroes of today’s election, the poll workers and volunteers who are going to help everybody through the voting process today.

I live in a very “blue” town in a very “blue” state (the Great State of New Jersey). We are a net “exporter” of campaign volunteers this year, mainly to points west in Pennsylvania. But, I still knew that it would be a good idea to get down to my polling place early. The polls opened at 6:00 a.m., so I left my house at about 6:15 and walked down the hill to the Municipal Building.

I “misunderestimated” how early to get there. There was a line out the door for my voting district, to sign in and get my “golden ticket” that would get me into the voting booth. Then, another line out the door to get to vote. The whole process took about an hour, so I really didn’t go through the kind of hardship that some people in the early voting states have gone through. And, it was fun to see all the neighbors happy to be out there, waiting to vote.

But the real heroes were the workers and volunteers, like my friend the Curmudgeon at Mapleberry Blog. He was there first thing this morning, to work as a party volunteer checking names on the voting lists. But, he quickly realized that sitting at a table wasn’t going to help move the voting along, and he jumped up to help his neighbors vote. There are three districts voting at our Municipal Building, and Curmudgeon and others got everybody organized into intricately snaking lines, crossing back-and-forth in the hall where the sign-in tables and voting machines are, and extending out the various doors.

If they had stopped to think about it, it was an impossible task. But, it was made possible by their community spirit, and the cooperation of all of the voters who happily followed their directions, and helped new arrivals to navigate the tangle of lines that developed.

I know that there are other places in the United States where, unfortunately, people will encounter greater difficulties in voting, and get less cooperation and assistance in trying to do so. I am so happy and blessed to live in a place where we have people like Curmudgeon and my other neighbors, who know that the act of voting is a precious gift that we share with all of our fellow citizens today.