I voted!

Well, my employer generously gave us an hour of paid time to vote, so I figured that I would go before work.

I've never voted in the morning before, so I don't have a frame of reference. However, the line was definitely longer by a factor of 50 than any other election I can remember.

I rolled up at the Perry Hall High School in suburban Baltimore County a little after 8 am this morning. Polls in Maryland open at 7am and close at 8pm. There were not a whole lot of parking spaces in the lot, despite the fact that the school was closed for election day. There were actually two different precincts that voted at the high school - one in the library (mine) and one in the cafeteria. They didn't do a great job of letting people know which line is which - there was a woman behind me grumbling because she waited for 20 minutes in the wrong line and then found out it was the wrong line.

It took me about an hour from the time I rolled up to the time I voted and left. I do seem to have come at the worst possible time - the line was about a third of it's length when I left.

So what does this all mean? Probably not much. Part of the reason for the long line might have been because of all the media emphasis on how long lines would be, which encouraged people to vote early. I for one have never voted early and did this time. Maryland does have a couple ballot initiatives, including slots, which may have had something to do with turnout. Given that Maryland is one of the bluest of the blue states, McCain voters like myself went knowing that their vote would not really matter, so I don't know how many people on the right voted because they wanted their thoughts known, and how many voted due to slots and the like.

But I did vote. I did my patriotic duty, and now have the right to complain if I don't like the results. And I got a little sticker.