election day

Tomorrow is election day, and I find myself annoyed.

Normally, I love election day. Call me a sentimental, patriotic fool, but I enjoy participating in the democratic process. Going into the booth, punching the little button…I love it. I believe it’s not only my right as an American citizen, but my responsibility, and I never miss an election day.

But now that I live in Washington state…well, I’m just not as enthusiastic about it. Oh, I still care about participating, but the process? Kind of sucks. You see, Washington does everything by mail in ballot, which means about three weeks before election day I get my ballot in the mail. I fill it out using a blue or black pen, seal it in two envelopes, sign one of the envelopes so they can verify my signature. Then I have the choice of mailing it in, dropping it off at the 24/7 drop box located near the election office downtown, or dropping it off on election day at one of several drop locations.

I hate it.

I understand that this method is preferable to a lot of people. Most of the folks I work with find it less disruptive to be able to mail it in or drop it off at their convenience. And apparently long lines at the polls were a problem around here. And of course it saves the county money (or city, or state, or whoever foots the bills for such things), because they have to employ fewer election workers to run and monitor the voting. So I get it. I just hate it.

I want to get in my car, drive to the polls, and do my duty. Putting it in the mail feels…well, not special at all. It feels like paying my electric bill, and that doesn’t make me feel all patriotic and righteous. I much preferred the way they ran things in Texas, with early voting available in most precincts, and an absentee ballot was always an option if you couldn’t – or didn’t want to - go stand in line.

Election day should be special, dammit. Being able to participate in our government, in the in the democratic process, should never be taken for granted or just assumed. So tomorrow, on election day, I will be taking my ballot to the elementary school near my office and handing in my ballot. It’s the closest I can come to punching the button in the booth.