I Voted!

I didn’t know that my voting would be such an adventure this time.  On the way to the voting place, my son called us: Mom, did you know that they changed the location of the polling station? 
I hadn’t heard or read about (even though a few days before I looked up the candidates at the official website.) 

I was grateful that we didn’t have go to the wrong place.  When I presented my ID, the man looked at me and said: You cannot vote here.  I told him, that I was a citizen, and I wanted to vote (I even showed him my name on the list).  He sent me to another group of volunteers who gladly explained to me that the reason I couldn’t vote on the electronic ballot machines was that my driver’s license had expired.  

So, what was I to do? 

They gave me an application for manual voting and send me with an envelope and the paper ballot to another table behind a screen. 

Then, I was to stick the envelope in the temporary ballot box which was actually a yellow sack which was locked.

In the meantime, I was embarrassed that my driver’s license had expired two weeks before on my birthday.  When I went straight from voting to the DMV I found a roomful of people all standing in line.  I didn’t want to wait for hours to get my license renewed which I did the next morning within 15 minutes, including taking the vision test as well as a picture.  This time around my license is only good for another four years.

What is the lesson of the day?  Before you vote: check your ID for validity.