A Close One

At 6:59 PM I ran through the door of my polling place to learn that I would be the next to the last person allowed to vote. That was cutting it a little close.

I had left work at a little after 6:00 for what should have been a 30-minute trip home. But I had forgotten what happens to traffic with even a few raindrops. Several instances of gridlock nearly doubled my commute time. At the end I made an illegal U turn and did several rolling STOPs.

But get me to the polls on time. This was an election I didn't want to miss. The Virginia senatorial race is still too close to call. Unfortunately I don't think my vote made a difference in the ridiculous marriage question.

The really interesting thing that happened was when I pulled out my driver's license (or what I thought was my driver's license), the poll worker read back the name on the license. I suddenly realized that I had the license of one of my traveling companions – how I got it I don't remember. As I whipped out another driver's license – one that looked a lot more like me – the woman gave me a curious look. But she was counting down to the end and didn't want to even attempt to figure out what I might be trying to impersonate someone else.

I quickly made my selections, voting a basically Democratic slate, with the exception of Jim Moran, who will never get my vote again, no matter what party he represents. In that race I voted for the independent, a vote that did not make a difference except in my conscience.

For a split second as I was struggling in the traffic and coughing my head off, I had thoughts of skipping yesterday's election. But I'm glad I got in under the wire. I'm glad I exercised my right to choose in this country that still purports to be a democracy.