I voted yesterday. The entire process ran smoothly. Things were calm, peaceful, and friendly. I did not see a security guard or law enforcement officer. Neither did I see any protesters or anyone with a malevolent look. (Maybe it was too early for Antifa to be awake.) Surprisingly, no one was outside handing out candidate information; I usually have to run a gauntlet of these folks. Maybe that just happens on Election Day.
I left the house at around 10:30 a.m. and went to vote and run a few errands. I figured I would be voting between the before-work voters and the lunch-hour voters so there would not be much of a wait. It was a good call.
My precinct normally votes at a library, but this was early voting, so there were only a limited number of places to vote. I picked a church because even though I had never been to it, I knew the road it was on. The parking lot was about half full. People were walking towards the building while others were walking out and towards their cars. Everyone had their mask on, which reminded me to grab mine. (I can’t tell you how many times I walk up to a build without my mask and then have to go back to the car and get it.)
COVID-19 Protections
They were taking COVID-19 seriously, but no one was in your face or being super aggressive about it.
Everyone was masked. You kept the pen you used, and they had at people spraying the voting stations and wiping them down as soon as a voter left. They used a large room in the church and the voting stations were spread out. I would say there was probably 8 feet between stations. Seemed pretty safe to me.
Quick and Efficient
There is only one person in line ahead of me. He gets called in. I wait maybe another 45 seconds and they call me in to one of three people checking us in. She asks my name and address, grabs a form, puts a sticker on it and tells me where to sign. I sign it and she tells me to keep the pen. Before long, I realize she tells everyone to keep the pen.
I get passed on to two more stations where they check my data, put barcodes and write numbers on my ballot and then I’m off to my voting station. I fill out my ballot and vote Republic for president, senator, and congressman. I’ve voted against that Democratic congressman more times than I can count, but he keeps winning despite my best efforts. Maybe there will be a red wave and this is the year he will get swept out of office.
I go down the list and vote for a dozen or so other Republicans, a Libertarian, and one Democrat. There are a couple of things I leave blank. Then I head over to the exit, scan my ballot, get my sticker, and I’m heading back into the parking lot.
Demographics
There is no way to tell if people voting are Democrats or Republican, so I’ll just comment on what I could see:
- Many of the voters were older. Lots or retirement age people.
- Most of the voters were white, even though the county is more than 40 percent African American and there are plenty of Hispanics.
My guess is that the location of the voting station and the time of day affected the turnout. Come back at 6 p.m. and you might see a different mix of people. For example, older folks were probably more prevalent because they are retired. Many people are at work during the late morning hours. I expect that if I had gone at 6 p.m. or on a weekend, I might have seen a more diverse voter population.
Preppers Should Vote
I encourage all preppers to vote. Consider your values, the importance of the second amendment, and what freedom and liberty mean to you, and vote your conscious.
I also encourage early voting to avoid any possible trouble on Election Day.
