Polling place stories from our readers (The Next Mayor)

One of our loyal readers and frequent contributors had this to say about her voting experience this morning:

On this dark and dreary morning, my daughter, granddaughter and I approached our polling place shortly after it opened. A woman was emerging, grumbling about not having time to stand in such a long line to vote. "What happened?" I asked imagining an unexpected surge of voter turnout at 7 AM. "One of the machines is down," she reported, "You'll have to wait at least an hour!" she exclaimed and left. My daughter and I looked at each other and for a moment considered leaving as well.

"An hour?" We'll miss our train. We'll be late for work. But the moment passed. "Its just an hour," we reasoned, we'll catch another train." Truly, we determined, what could be more important during this hour than exercising our right, our privilege and our civic duty - to vote?

As it turned out, the wait was closer to half an hour. The mood inside was congenial, the would-be voters and the polling place volunteers were in good spirits. They had called the election commission, and help was on the way. Indeed, just before it was our turn in line, the non-working machine was fixed. I was impressed by the efficiency of the whole operation.

But the thought of people leaving because of the mere possibility of having to wait an hour to vote continues to disturb me. People around the world sometimes walk for miles and wait for days for the opportunity to vote. And there are people everywhere longing to live in a place where they can vote and where their vote will be counted. Here, in this land, our sisters and brothers before us shed blood, lost their livelihoods, reputations and in some instances their lives so we can have this thing we call a democracy.

Sure, its a mess right now. Whether you look at city, county, state or national politics you can find instances of corruption, scandal, and fraud. Our very constitution seems to be losing its grip on our collective consciences.

And yet too many of us are too soft. Too weary. Too dispirited. Too cynical. Too wrapped up in the minutiae of our daily lives to realize how important it is for us to cast our vote - raise our voice, make ourselves heard. On election day - yes. And every day.

Let's teach our children - Stand up. Be counted. Be heard. Make noise. Make waves. Make a ruckus. But whatever you do - don't walk away. I am glad my granddaughter got this lesson this morning. Even in the rain and gloom, there is still hope and promise for our communities and our future as long was we make noise.

My own Election Day story isn't as interesting or inspiring but I'll pass it along in a few minutes.