500 per day.
2300 a week.
I will not vote on November 4th and neither will the people represented by these figures above.
That's because I voted today, October 4th, 2008--and the polling place was PACKED.
Those numbers? That's the number of people voting each day, 500--and the number voting per week since the polls opened--2300.
This matters--especially because I live in Ohio.
I live in Cincinnati which Obama won by a huge margin in the primary. My partner and I strapped the toddler into the car and went down to vote today. The cars, parked near the polling place, all had Obama stickers. I didn't see a single car with a McCain sticker!
(Cute and totally gratuitous story below.)
(We told her we're going to vote for Obama. Poor thing thought that meant she was going to meet him. She fell asleep while we voted and woke up angry.
"Where's Obama?" she demanded.)
I spent a little time chatting with the workers at the polling place. This is how I got those figures. "It has been crazy," an incredibly good looking poll worker told another man and me.
The polling place where I voted--824 Broadway--had about 30 booths set up to vote at once. Not only did I have to wait in line to get the requisite forms to vote, but I also had to wait for a booth to open up. And this is on a Saturday, when you have to vote BEFORE NOON. I never got up before noon when I was 19. But I certainly saw young folks down there bright and early to cast their votes. They had on Obama buttons and hats. They were talking about him. Beneath the quiet whispering talk, you could hear the name "Obama" piercing the monotonous and nondescript chatter. I didn't hear one person say "McCain." (But maybe I wasn't listening close enough? Anyway.)
I saw people of all races--but the crowd was overwhelmingly black. I saw a young woman, pregnant, with a several face piercings. She was behind me in line. "This is the first election I've been eligible to vote in. I think of it as part of my prenatal responsibility," she told me.
I saw a group of aspiring rappers. They were working on some kind of Obama song. I didn't catch all the words--but it was clear who they were voting for.
I saw an interracial couple, a white man and a black woman, holding hands wearing Obama buttons (which they had to take off, more on that below).
I saw a (white) mother and daughter chatting happily together. "After I vote for Obama," the daughter said, "Let's go shoe shopping." Her mother laughed. "Is that a bribe?"
Then that good looking poll worker came over and broke them up. I guess you can't chat while you vote. In the state of Ohio, you also cannot wear buttons or other candidate paraphernalia. I, along with some other folks, were asked to take off Obama hats and buttons.
Everyone was smiling. Everyone was excited. People were young and old, some (apparently) working class and some (apparently) upper class, some white and many black.
Voting early matters and it always gives me hope to see the polling places packed with people we normally don't see voting. (When was the last time I saw a group of young black men rapping at a polling place? Never and I've been voting since 1992.)
I am hopeful that Obama/Biden can pull Ohio into the Democratic column. Early voting enables this--so, if you live in Ohio or any other battleground state, or know someone who does--tell them to vote early!
Now that I have voted, I can dothis.