Published October 17, 2020

In case you hadn’t noticed, the November election is a pretty big deal to me, and to a lot of people. After so many days of waiting and wondering if I’d make it to this day, I finally got my chance to vote today!

I have pictures to tell the story!

This morning I brewed some Community Coffee and sat at my desk, pen at the ready, voters’ pamphlet close at hand, and made slow work out of what I’d already figured out after weeks and months — and in some cases, years — of paying attention.

The big-ticket items were a no-brainer. The second page included names that even I, someone who works in a newsroom, struggled at times to recognize. All of it felt important.

I made the process last longer than it needed to because, for many reasons, I needed it to last awhile. But even before I could finish one cup of coffee (dark roast), I was done. I put my ballot inside the secrecy sleeve (see explanation in the previous photo), and the sleeve inside the envelope, which I signed, sealed and purpled. (That last part happened only virtually, so I could post this photo without advertising my mailing address. Call it the secrecy horizontal purple block.) All that was left to do was to go to the drop box in my downtown neighborhood and drop the ballot through the slot.

There was a line of cars when I arrived shortly before noon. I decided to pull off to the side and park so I could take a photo of the queue to illustrate the interest in submitting ballots 17 days before the deadline. Once I’d parked, the line had thinned out, so I thought I’d settle for a shot of the drop box on a beautiful October day. Wouldn’t you know it? One by one, cars and trucks appeared from around corners, getting between my iPhone camera and the drop box. So I waited. And waited. And waited. And more came. There wasn’t a line, per se, at this point, but a steady arrival of one vehicle after another, perhaps 20 seconds apart, to take the place of the previous one.

Finally, the arrivals ceased, and I drove my car alongside the drop box and and stood beside it. We not just drive by and drop it through the slot? Well, I couldn’t manage that and also pull off the neat trick of taking a photo with an iPhone securely attached to a lovely phone wallet. (I know, right? So high-maintenance, I am!) And at this point, I assumed another car would come along and have to wait for me to finish my photo shoot so they could take their turn exercising their right to vote. Still, I had one more photo to take.

Perhaps for no reason other than to elongate the process by a few more seconds, to savor it, I let the envelope rest mostly in — but partially out of — the slot. Dramatic, yes?

With a flick of a beautifully manicured finger (which I forgot to glove), I pushed it inside the drop box in time to hear conversations behind me and to my left, signaling that others were nearby and eager to vote. In fact, some people who probably live in the neighborhood had walked to the drop-off location in front of the Clark County Elections Office. One gentleman shuffled over from a residential building just across the side street. A young couple and their child happily came along to cast two ballots.

Since I was close to the office, I drove there and added a decorative statement to the outside of one of my cubicle walls. As I mentioned elsewhere, I am aware that I didn’t technically vote by mail — even though I could have, and without having to pay for postage — so imagine an implied asterisk and a footnote clarifying that “I Voted By Drop Box.” The sticker people told me that was allowed. (That’s me. I’m sticker people.)

Before leaving, I left some stickers in the newsroom for others in case they wanted to apply them to a sweater or purse or whatever.

Or laptop, as I did.

Or calendar, as I did.

And that was that. I voted! Today! Finally!

Considering that there were times when I wasn’t sure that I’d even be here to do my part in this election, it was a satisfying feeling to have this honor again. I voted for people who will be here long after I am gone, hoping to have us on the right path toward making life better for them. I voted for people who didn’t live to vote in this election, hoping to help us right some wrongs that allowed them to be taken from us too soon. i voted for people who voted before I did, in other parts of town and in other states across the country, hoping to ensure that we preserve protections in place for them, and in some cases, return protections to them. I voted for the air that future generations will breathe and the water that future generations will drink. I voted for an appropriate response to what we cannot predict, that which will require a greater commitment to truth and science and collaboration and evidence-based decision-making than we’ve seen since early 2017.

I voted. It felt great!