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I had to drop the van off at Ellwood's Garage to get the brakes fixed, which is conveniently located kitty-corner from my voting station, so I completed both errands at once.
I stopped to say hello to the nice volunteers huddled around a fire circle outside the polling place, and learned to my dismay that they might not be able to do this next year because the City Council has slashed funding to the Kingfield Neighborhood Association (presumably to all of the Neighborhood Associations) to the point where they might have to disband the whole thing. Apparently our local council member, Andrea Jenkins, was completely unsympathetic and suggested that the neighborhood associations should consider funding themselves by selling pot "now that it is legal." (!!) Pot isn't exactly legal in Minnesota, but maybe she meant selling gummies instead of handing out cookies for free?? WTF? My dislike for Jenkins increases the more I learn about her, but there is really no way to vote against her. She was simply installed by the local DFL machine after the previous council member retired and nobody has ever opposed her in the primary, which is where Minneapolis local elections essentially take place.
There were no hostile poll watchers or any other commotion other than a brisk wind fanning the fire circles and threatening to blow down the little pavilion sheltering the cookies and coffee. The polling place was surprisingly busy for 10:30 am in a non-presidential year. I didn't have to wait in line, but every one of the 2 dozen or so voting stations was occupied (I sat at a table instead). And I did have to wait in a short line to submit my ballot. I was number 701. I voted for all the DFL candidates, plus Mary and Marion in the non-partisan races. And also Dawanna and Colin and Sonja, even though their names do not start with "Mar-"
I like voting in person, partly because it's an easy pleasant walk and I like seeing my community doing their civic duty. It's also the best way to ensure that your vote gets counted. But if providing all those ways to vote early means that more people vote, I guess that outweighs the small but not-totally-trivial number of absentee ballots that get spoiled or lost along the way. I'm still proud to live in the state that consistently has the highest voter turnout in the nation. I wonder if Republicans still feel that way, or if they now consider high voter participation to be a mark of shame for their state?
I stopped to say hello to the nice volunteers huddled around a fire circle outside the polling place, and learned to my dismay that they might not be able to do this next year because the City Council has slashed funding to the Kingfield Neighborhood Association (presumably to all of the Neighborhood Associations) to the point where they might have to disband the whole thing. Apparently our local council member, Andrea Jenkins, was completely unsympathetic and suggested that the neighborhood associations should consider funding themselves by selling pot "now that it is legal." (!!) Pot isn't exactly legal in Minnesota, but maybe she meant selling gummies instead of handing out cookies for free?? WTF? My dislike for Jenkins increases the more I learn about her, but there is really no way to vote against her. She was simply installed by the local DFL machine after the previous council member retired and nobody has ever opposed her in the primary, which is where Minneapolis local elections essentially take place.
There were no hostile poll watchers or any other commotion other than a brisk wind fanning the fire circles and threatening to blow down the little pavilion sheltering the cookies and coffee. The polling place was surprisingly busy for 10:30 am in a non-presidential year. I didn't have to wait in line, but every one of the 2 dozen or so voting stations was occupied (I sat at a table instead). And I did have to wait in a short line to submit my ballot. I was number 701. I voted for all the DFL candidates, plus Mary and Marion in the non-partisan races. And also Dawanna and Colin and Sonja, even though their names do not start with "Mar-"
I like voting in person, partly because it's an easy pleasant walk and I like seeing my community doing their civic duty. It's also the best way to ensure that your vote gets counted. But if providing all those ways to vote early means that more people vote, I guess that outweighs the small but not-totally-trivial number of absentee ballots that get spoiled or lost along the way. I'm still proud to live in the state that consistently has the highest voter turnout in the nation. I wonder if Republicans still feel that way, or if they now consider high voter participation to be a mark of shame for their state?
