a little faith in the system
I called to find out if my provisional ballot was counted for NJ's primary, and even though I'm generally an optimist, I had resigned myself to the notion that it hadn't. Here's why:
I spent Super Tuesday at 2 polling places only to get blank looks when I asked for a provisional ballot from middle-aged classy Madison women at a pretty impressive church (Hello, I'd like a little separation, please.) They automatically handed me the democrat's ballot (aren't they supposed to give us both? I am independent afterall). Then they looked at it to check and make sure I'd done it correctly and told me that I hadn't voted. I'm pretty sure they're not really supposed to look... something about being able to cast your vote privately, but whatever. Finally, I explained the concept of a write-in and they looked at me sheepishly.
In the end, I asked for an "I voted" sticker, and they gave me a dirty look. Like I hadn't earned it or something. I told them I wanted the sticker because I work with kids, and wanted to show it off. This seemed to turn things around... like I must be a certain kind of person because I play with booger-pickers all day. I don't know what kind of person they expected played with their kids. Probably not an independent, liberal-minded, lady-lovin puertorican. Probably not. Hey man, I'm raising an army ha ha ha.
But after all that, as the subject line suggests, my vote was counted. Imagine that.
I spent Super Tuesday at 2 polling places only to get blank looks when I asked for a provisional ballot from middle-aged classy Madison women at a pretty impressive church (Hello, I'd like a little separation, please.) They automatically handed me the democrat's ballot (aren't they supposed to give us both? I am independent afterall). Then they looked at it to check and make sure I'd done it correctly and told me that I hadn't voted. I'm pretty sure they're not really supposed to look... something about being able to cast your vote privately, but whatever. Finally, I explained the concept of a write-in and they looked at me sheepishly.
In the end, I asked for an "I voted" sticker, and they gave me a dirty look. Like I hadn't earned it or something. I told them I wanted the sticker because I work with kids, and wanted to show it off. This seemed to turn things around... like I must be a certain kind of person because I play with booger-pickers all day. I don't know what kind of person they expected played with their kids. Probably not an independent, liberal-minded, lady-lovin puertorican. Probably not. Hey man, I'm raising an army ha ha ha.
But after all that, as the subject line suggests, my vote was counted. Imagine that.