The “Potomac Primaries” for Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia are in full swing today as voters head to the polls to select their favorite candidate in the 2008 race for the White House. This morning, I took my four year-old daughter to our local polling location, an elementary school in Virginia.
I expected there to be long lines of anxious commuters angrily elbowing their way to the voting booths but, thankfully, I saw none of that and was simply amazed at the ease of the process.
There were about ten people in line ahead of us, but it moved very quickly. When we got to the front, I presented my driver’s license ID, they checked me off the list, asked me to choose a Republican or Democrat card (Virginia voters participate in an “open primary“) and we were off to vote. I lifted my daughter up onto a chair, pointed to my candidate of choice and she touched the screen to cast and record my vote. That was it!
I was literally in and out of there in less than five minutes which is a credit to both the volunteer poll workers and the technology of electronic voting. I know that some still have concerns about this form of digital democracy, but I haven’t heard one story about potential fraud or voting machine failure so far this year.
So, if you haven’t voted yet, get to the polls before they close (7 PM in VA, 8 PM in DC and MD). It’s so easy, a caveman preschooler can do it!
Louis Rosas-Guyon
Great story. I agree it’s important to bring your children to vote. By teaching them the values of democracy and giving them the proper respect for the institutions of this nation, we ensure that the flame of liberty will live on in future generations. We are truly blessed to live in a place where we get to peacefully overthrow the government every few years.
In one of those strange coincidences, I wrote a similar entry! Check it out: http://r2computing.blogspot.com/2008/01/primary-elections.html