by hatfield13

I VOTED! A Voices and Votes Celebration

This morning, when it was still dark, my kids and I walked to the neighborhood community center that serves as our polling place.  On the way there, we talked about how voter turnout today will likely be higher than in any modern election.  Seven-year-old E, scuffing her feet through the leaves along the curb, wanted to know what that meant.

"That more people who are allowed to vote will actually show up and vote today," I told her.

She stopped.  "You mean some of them don’t?"

We talked about countries where things are different, where the right to vote is much newer and never taken for granted.  And then we turned the corner to the park and said hello to the election volunteers who had just unlocked the door.   I was the fourth person in line to vote.  

One of the things I love about Election Day is the way it brings us all together. As promised…here’s my celebration of all of our VOICES AND VOTES — a picture of me outside the polling place next to the playground.  You can see the light is on inside.  There’s just one voting machine — the old-fashioned kind where you pull the levers.  It will be replaced by a new, electronic one next year, but today, pulling the lever was just right.  

By the time we walked back home this morning, it was getting light. 

It’s time to get the rest of the day going now – time to get the boy to jazz band and the girl to school, time for me to teach revision strategies for personal narratives.  But this hopeful feeling?  I’m keeping it with me all day long.

I’m not alone in enjoying my moment at the polls today…not by a long shot. Visit these bloggers and citizens…a whole collection of us, celebrating our VOICES AND VOTES with stories & photos online.

I’m not alone in enjoying my moment at the polls today…not by a long shot. Visit these bloggers and citizens…a whole collection of us, celebrating our VOICES AND VOTES with stories & photos online.

kimmiepoppins  blogs about voting…and how lucky we are.
kellyrfineman  voted and posted a poem that says it all.
jmammaywrites  voted in Florida today.
Kurtis Scaletta shares some images from his trip to the polls.
maryecronin  voted and then ate pancakes to celebrate!
madrobins  went to the polls with her 18-year-old daughter – a first time voter!
seaheidi  shares her voting story and her voting outfit.
missrodeo  shares pictures of her early morning trip to the polls.
goadingthepen  voted early today, too.
cynthialord  talks about the need for us to be extraordinary on Election Day.
halseanderson  voted by absentee ballot before her book tour.
newport2newport voted early and shared her thoughts on the election today.
elspeth47  stood in line to vote in Texas.
janni  voted in Arizona this morning.
vivaler  talks about changing…from a non-voter to a voter.
jbknowles  voted and feels big and strong now (me too, Jo!)
jeannineatkins  was voter #273 at her town hall.
pdlloyd  enjoyed the sense of community in voting.
lurban  voted today and invites  you to share your favorite part of voting.
jamarattigan  stepped out of the kitchen today to vote!
lillpluta  voted with her homeschooled son today.
thunderchikin  talks about voting with a sense of hope.
kbaccellia  shares her thoughts on tough choices.
wordsrmylife  is celebrating high voter turnout.
marsha_brantley  voted early and blogged about it today.
writerross  voted with tears in her eyes.

And my mom, artist gailschirmer  voted  (I suspect Dad did, too, but wasn’t as eager to be photographed…) after volunteering to make lunch for the election volunteers.  Go, Mom!

Want to join us in celebrating?  Just post your voting story and/or photo, drop me a comment or an email (kmessner at katemessner dot com) and I’ll add you to the roundup.  Happy Election Day!

Edited to add:  I’m having trouble with this post when I update, and I’ve had to redo it a few times. If I’ve missed you, or if you were on the list and you’re missing now, please drop me a note and I’ll fix it.  Let’s all hope the election technology is working out much better than mine!

38 Replies on “I VOTED! A Voices and Votes Celebration”

  1. I’m not doing the blog or the photo today, but sometime this morning, I’ll be taking my home schooled child with me to vote at our local polling place, the Southern Baptist Church a mile down the road. I don’t much approve of churches as polling places, but that’s what they do here. I read somewhere that churches are the most common polling places in America. Seems odd.

  3. I’m kicking myself for not taking a pic of me standing in line last week. Yup, I hate loooong lines, so I early voted.

    I’m with your daughter:you mean some people don’t vote? Can you imagine?

  5. Yes – I was making calls to registered voters this week to make sure they had information about their polling locations, and many of those locations were churches.

    Yay, Lill, for voting! (And double-yay for you for taking the kids along!)

  12. I voted yesterday and I feel great to have done it! And I totally agree with the way it makes you feel…connected and empowered! And American! I love my country…

  13. Hi Kate!
    I’m finally home from voting and just posted my photos!
    It’s great to read everyone’s stories. Thanks for doing this!

    xo

  17. Yay, Jo!! (And Yay for E, too…he did a nice job filling in that bubble!) Thanks for sharing your story, too – it’s so much fun to see where everyone is voting.

  18. I love that you’re collecting our stories here!

    (I notice that you had to dress a bit warmer than I did to cast that ballot! :-))

  19. Here via . There’s not much to my voting story and in many ways, it’s not complete, as my husband and those of our sons who are now old enough to vote will be going out later. This has been the most exciting and nerve-wracking election I can remember and I just needed to get out there and do it. It felt good. Like others here, I love the sense of community and shared purpose that comes from going to the polling place on election day and voting.

  27. Yay, I get to hang with the cool guys!

    I don’t see my name on the list yet, but I’m glad to know I’m not alone in this. Not by a long shot, it seems. 🙂

  28. You are making me giddy with joy today, Kate. Reading these posts, tasting what others are doing today… It’s so overwhelming. I didn’t bring my camera with us. I should have… Oh to record that moment. I will forever hold the image in my head so there the “photos” will remain. I cried. I could not hold back. The poll workers were looking at me. I did not care. What a day. What a vote.

    After I came home, I watched the OBAMA FAMILY vote in Chicago. History is happening here and we are helping to write its story.

    Thanks for linking my LJ to yours today, Kate. It’s so lovely to be in this together with people who care.

    -Pamela, an emotional fluffernutter, somebody hug me!

  31. Thanks! I’ve updated my entry, too, as the various members of my family have voted, or wavered about whether they will vote.

  34. I didn’t bring a camera to my polling place, and I’ve decided not to blog about my voting experience because I’m having fun reading everyone else’s. I’ll just say:
    Yes, I voted. Absolutely.
    I really miss those big old machines with the levers, especially the big CLUNK! it made when your vote was officially cast. The electronic machines beep, which isn’t as good.
    I like going to a physical place in my neighborhood. It makes me feel more a part of something than if I could vote from my house.
    That is all.
    Happy Election Day!