I live in the most liberal-voting precinct in Lexington KY, so there were no oppositional baying crowds fighting it out in front of the elementary school polling place at 9 this morning. In fact the place at first looked deserted, until I lowered my fevered expectations far enough to be able to see the steady trickle of people going in and out the school door. Inside, two lines snaked down the halls and curled around cafeteria tables. It took almost a half hour to vote, in contrast to the usual five minutes.
About sixty people total were in line when I arrived, jumping to around 100 by the time I departed. An hour later, a departing voter indicated that the pace had not changed, but that the heat inside was so high she wondered if we could call it "voter intimidation"! Pushing her small child in a stroller, she headed home to gripe about it on her MySpace page.
Waiting to vote, I saw in line the usual neighborhood group of wealthy and not so wealthy aging hippies and faculty members, mostly white. There was a wonderfully heartening number of old and frail voters, and people in wheelchairs. The atmosphere was subdued, hushed and churchlike: people were on their very best behavior. When I told my neighbor in line that up in Ohio the average time in line was said to be three hours even after a month of early voting, she instantly recovered from her mild impatience.
At the sign-in table, the harassed-looking big man handling the book was moving so fast that he did not even look up at me. I signed, asking if he thought it was particularly busy, to which he replied while turning to the next voter, "I don't know, haven't had time to check." I was handed my "I voted" sticker and then suddenly it was just me in that little booth. I spun the dial carefully and took my time. To savor the moment further, I skipped voting the straight ticket and clicked for each candidate individually, though after clicking the top box for Obama-Biden it was all just frosting on the cake. I held my nose mentally when voting for Lunsford - gotta Ditch Mitch!
I felt no tremors, no big emotions, just quiet satisfaction.
Walking back to my apartment, I recognized that same peaceful expression on others wearing "I voted" stickers.