Vote Early & Often

Hey, Anchorage voters — I know that usually these trends that sweep the nation (trouble at the polls, robocalls, what have you) don’t usually make it up here to the AK. But everything seems to be different this time around, and in case you didn’t know, early voting has been a big deal even in Anchorage. MLB and I ran into Celtic Diva at the Begich rally on Wednesday night (Side Note: That’s right; I love Mark Begich enough to miss “America’s Next Top Model”) and I mentioned I planned to go vote the next day. She cautioned me that she’d talked to a lot of people who planned to vote the next day, so I should expect the line to be long.

So I walked over to City Hall yesterday afternoon to cast my ballot. I’ve voted at City Hall before, and it’s always been pretty much just me and the poll workers. Not this time, though. There was actually a line. To vote. Five days before the election. I actually had to wait on line to receive my ballot, and then wait again for a voting booth to open up.

After I voted, I stopped by my bank and mentioned to the teller that I’d just voted. So had she. She told me she’s been a Republican all her life but just couldn’t bring herself to vote for McCain and Palin. After watching the “infomercial,” she and her husband had decided to vote for Obama.

Thus buoyed, I set out for Nordstrom just because I was in a good mood. As I crossed F Street, I passed a man stopped at the red light, talking to a friend on the sidewalk.

“I was going to vote,” the man in the truck said, “but the line was just too long. I’ll have to come back tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” his friend said, “Tuesday’s going to be crazy.”

According to the Daily News, yesterday was the last day to cast absentee-in-person ballots that will be counted on election night (instead of later on).

(Side Note: I’ve been surprised by the number of comments I’ve seen on various Alaska blogs from people who say they’re experienced voters but are unaware of electioneering restrictions. In case you aren’t aware, you should know that you are not allowed to bring campaign materials within 200 feet of a polling place. That includes buttons, stickers, and your “Women Against Sarah Palin” t-shirt. If a poll worker requires you to remove your campaign swag, she’s not being a jerk and she’s not abridging your First Amendment rights. She’s just enforcing the law. Well, okay, it’s possible she’s being a jerk about it. But it’s still the law.)