No Hanging Chads in Plano!

We voted today and have the stickers to prove it!

At least for early voters in Collin County, voting was a new experience. Gone were the paper ballots with their "fill in the bubble completely" blanks. Instead, a room full of touch-screen voting machines awaited us upon our arrival. (Of course, we could have requested a paper ballot if we'd preferred that method.)

A few comments about this year's election, based on our experience.

1. Thank you for allowing early voters to cast their ballots at any approved venue in the County. This has always been an early voting privilege, and it's one that I most appreciate after having suffered through a 2-hour line one year on Election Day when I forgot to vote early.
2. Thank you as well for having early voting locations open on Saturday from 7-7. It's wonderful to vote on a day that isn't full of work responsibilities and the Monday through Friday hustle-and-bustle.
3. I think some of my favorite folks are those dedicated enough to our democracy to serve as election workers. They don't do it for the money for sure, but they are eager to assist, friendly and work hard to get you in and out the door.
4. The touch-screen system was easy to understand and fast to use. My only complaint is that there is little privacy. This could have been the set up for our location, but I was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Kelly and we were able to easily see how the other was voting. I still love the private booths with sliding curtain doors from my first voting experiences in Manhattan, Kansas!
5. Go vote! Here in Texas, we can easily claim that our votes don't matter one way or the other as our area has a very dominant political flavor. I don't care about that - it's important to be part of the process. I wish there had been a presidential candidate this year that I felt passionate about supporting. But there wasn't, so I had to wrestle with the issues and make the best choice I could. Whatever the election results, I'm grateful to be a citizen of a country that encourages its people to struggle with issues and make tough choices.

Now that I've voted, some may be wondering about that question from yesterday's post. The answer is, in no particular order: Libertarian, Democratic and Republican.

I voted. Have you? Will you?