Democracy Rocks! Photos And Deep Thoughts On Election Day

Happy Election Day, Modern Philosophers!

I thought I’d try something different tonight, and do a photo essay on my trip to exercise my right to vote.

Do you elect to join me?  ___ YES  ___ NO

This first photo is of the sign outside of the Brewer Auditorium.  It tells the whole story.

Your vote does count, so I hope that you found the time today to make your voice heard.  It’s not too late to get to your local polling place, Modern Philosophers!

Of course, there are always roadblocks on the road to Democracy.

In my case, there was this fallen tree just up the street from The House on the Hill.

I actually got very daring and walked beyond the saw horses that the city had set up to keep gawkers away from the tree.

Of course, I consider myself to be a member of the press, so I knew it was okay for me to get in there and snap this shot.

The city didn’t do a top notch job of making the polling place accessible by foot.

This is what I encountered on the street that leads to the auditorium.

That campaign sign for Senator Collins is planted next to the sidewalk, which was still buried in snow.

In order to get to the auditorium, I had to walk along the shoulder of one of the busiest streets in town.

While wearing my black winter coat.  That was a thrill.

Here is a shot of the entrance to the polling place.

Those are candidates greeting voters and trying to solicit a last second vote.

Of course, I had no idea who any of them were by sight.

I’m sure if they had handed me a stack of their annoying campaign flyers, however, I would’ve known exactly who they were.

I don’t think I like the idea of electioneering being allowed so close to the auditorium, but I guess it does have an All-American appeal to it.

Here is a shot inside the Brewer Auditorium.

I was thrilled with how packed it was.  In my ten years of voting in Maine, I have never seen the place this busy.

There was a line to get to a booth.  Then we had to get into another line to put the ballot into the voting machine.

That line was so long that I had to wait twenty minutes to deposit my ballot into the machine.

The whole time I was slowly snaking my way towards the end, more and more voters were filling the auditorium.

Here’s a shot of the ballot.

Don’t worry, Modern Philosophers, I snapped this before I had made any selections.

I suppose the reason for the big turnout was the Gubernatorial Race, which looks like it’s going to go right down to the wire.

I was curious as to why the Gubernatorial Candidates weren’t listed first on the ballot.

The state ballot was packed with referendums that were all very confusing.

I was most familiar with the first one, which was about bear baiting.

Of course, the reason I knew about that one was because the joke I’d written about it led off a recent monologue on The Nite Show.

In the end, it was worth the wait!

I got to be a part of our country’s celebration of Democracy, and I was really happy to see that so many of my neighbors had turned out to exercise their right to vote, too.

I will happily wait in line every year to submit my ballot and have a voice in how this country is run.

Did you vote today, Modern Philosophers?  How was voter turnout in your area?