Residents of Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC vote in our primaries today.
As I entered my polling place this morning, the poll workers were laughing and having a good time. They were pleasant, but something seemed odd. There are two precincts voting where I vote, in an elementary school. I had to first locate the proper poll worker and machine, which was a little confusing. I had to locate my address on a small map that included only the street names within the precinct boundaries. It is a little hard to locate one’s street when there are very few reference points! Then, once I was properly positioned in front of the appropriate poll worker, I needed only to supply my name and address, with no form of ID required. The poll worker indicated that the machine had not been working all morning, but that for me it seemed to work. My “smart card” was prepared and I was directed to the voting machine to cast my electronic vote. I was in and out within about 2 minutes.
The church I serve is a polling place. We’ve forbidden any electioneering on church property and forbidden the posting of any political signs on church property. I laughed when I arrived at the church this morning. No signs had been posted on church property, but three were planted on the neighbor’s property, within inches of the apparent property line. This was the first time we know that any campaigns even read our posted policy!
My spouse called a few minutes ago. She just voted and was asked by a poll worker, “Do you know where you live?”. That’s quite a question! It was all an attempt to determine which precinct she was to vote in, but seriously, “do you know where you live?” If not, maybe you shouldn’t be voting.
The poll workers at the church I serve are a cold lot. We lost our heat in that part of the building (a frozen circulating pump is being repaired as I write). The temperature is 64 degrees in the room, and some of the poll workers are wearing mittens. They try not to sit still for very long.
Pondering Pastor
