I voted early on Saturday. No other early voting was convenient for me and in fact the Tuesday voting hours weren't very convenient either. It'd be nice if early voting was held on more than just one Saturday but perhaps that's not feasible in local elections where turnout is low.
I drove there (Morehead Plane-aruim) because it might have been close timewise if I walked and that day was my only chance to vote. 9 am-1pm? Hey, some of use like to sleep on Saturday morning and then get our day going leisurely. I guess I'm out of step with the rest of the world, again. But at least they had reserved the parking spaces for voters so I got right in and parked easily.
Then I walked up to the building and although I assumed there'd be campaign signs, it didn't occur to me that there'd be actual candidates. First there was Mary Anne G for school board. I hadn't been following the school board race at all and so I had decided to not vote for it. Then I saw Mary Anne G on this website and she persuaded me, temporarily, until I realized that I had vowed to vote only for races I knew something about and to not be swayed by nice words or pretty faces. Then I saw her at the voting site and I was tempted again, but ended up passing since I didn't know anything substantive about the race (except that I did end up casting a vote for Jon Green because of something that I read he said, but I didn't vote for school board otherwise). Mary Anne G is the only one that gave me an actual handout, which I suppose is the curse of having an uncommon name that is hard to spell. Then again, Mary Anne can have the consolation of having that Marshall Crenshaw written abut her.
Then there was Mark K. I felt really, really bad shaking Mark K's hand and engaging him in conversation while simultaneously knowing I wasn't going to vote for him. It was made worse by the fact that I didn't expect him to be there. It was so bad that even though I was a slam dunk going in for Matt Cz, after meeting Mark K. and then going on my way to the ballot I seriously reconsidered my vote. The guy is ridiculously likable. I don't want to give tips to Mark K. because I don't want him to win over Matt Cz, but if I did then I'd tell him to meet as many people in person as possible, especially since since CH is a fairly small town and the number of people you meet could actually make a difference.
I actually thanked Mark K. for asking me to vote for him. Why the hell would anyone do that? I don't know. And that's the point.
And then after Mark K., as I walked towards the building I heard someone say "Jon DeHart" and presumably it was Jon DeHart and I just quasi-looked in that general direction and quai-acknowledged it and kept on walking. If you were observing the whole thing you'd conclude I was voting for Mark K. and not voting for DeHart but you'd be wrong on both counts.
Then I got inside Morehead and there was no line at all to vote. Quick and easy. It's interesting though that they don't even ask you for your voters card.
