I Voted

Late last week, I availed myself of the early voting opportunity in Knox County. 

But before go any further, lest you might think I would violate one of the basic #CoachJeff principles and go political on you. I will not.  If you want to talk politics, I am sure there are many more qualified people out there to engage and many election-related websites to provide fodder. 

Today, my purpose here, is merely to talk about the process. I will not tell you how I voted.  I will just, um, tell you how I voted. 

How we all did. The process.

The first time I went to the polls more than 40 years ago, I remember I went into a booth, pulled a curtain closed behind me and actually flipped a physical lever for each candidate of choice. Then, once I had flipped all the levers I chose to do, there was one big lever to finish the process. I remember pulling that big lever, hearing a bit of a grinding/groaning sound, and then all my selections disappeared. Or were recorded. I hope it was the latter.

Then, of course, in the year 2000, we heard all about chads - dangling, hanging, pregnant and otherwise. The infamous butterfly ballot prompted detailed discussions about election technology throughout the land. And, before you knew it, in Tennessee, we had a different system. 

And having just completed the process, I must say our approach is impressive. At my polling place, for instance:

• Sufficient volunteers to keep the process moving
• Way-faring signs and footpaths to keep the crowd moving
• Friendly and collegial voters sharing their thoughts about the impressive process

One woman even offered a band-aid to a fellow traveler who seemed to have developed a cut on her leg. Everyone present seemed impressed. 

Shared experience.

After you sign in and show your ID, you receive a ballot and off you go.

The physical process includes a color-in-the-lines effort. This is the challenge for color outside the lines folks like me.

Nontheless, poll workers give you a black ink pen and instructions to completely fill in the box for the candidates of your choice. You do so at small carrels labelled with the cheerful language stating, "I Voted."

Once you have finished making your selections (and checked over them one last time), you go to a scanning device. The voter slides her/his paper ballot into the machine. A few seconds later a "waving U.S. flag" appears on your screen. That tells you that your vote has been recorded and it is safe to leave the precinct.

But not before you receive a colorful "I Voted" sticker. 

Even though the polling place was packed on a mid-week, mid-day, I thought the lines shuffled quickly and the process moved apace. I wasn't there more than, say, a good half hour.

Thirty minutes to invest in participating in our democracy? Not a bad trade-off.

JG