The Franchise

There's a polling place across the street at the end of my block but they draw up the voting districts in such a way that I had to go to the other end of Washington Park to do my voting. The place is a Presbyterian church that boasts of having baptized pioneer American scientist Joseph Henry. Things were busy this morning. You told the man up front your address and he directed you to the table for your district. There you signed the roll and were given your paper ballot. You then stood in line for one of the four booths where you would mark the ballot. There are fewer choices for president this year than I can remember from past elections. If you aren't for Clinton, Trump, Johnson or Stein you had to write in another name. Stein was the only one of the four to appear only once; Johnson had been endorsed by the Independence Party. You marked your dots and shook your head at the number of uncontested races and got in line for the scanner. By the time I was ready the line for the scanner nearly went out the door, but it moved quickly. I was in and out in little more than fifteen minutes. I didn't see anyone go in or out of the other polling place either time I passed it.