EJ and I planned to leave the house this morning at about 6:30AM to get in line to vote at our local polling place. J. got a head start on us as EJ put himself together to go directly from the polling site to work. We had planned to take two cars to make it easy on him, but the Boy Coaster decided once again that it did not want to leave the comfort of the garage. So much so, that it would not release the ignition key.

We arrived at about 6:40AM to a crowd of what looked like over 200. I've never seen the line wrapped around in the parking lot. I scoured the line looking to see any familiar faces, specifically J. I had to walk past him about three times, almost standing right next to him at least once before EJ tracked him down on the telephone. Even then, I had trouble spotting him even with landmarks.

Finally, he was spotted camped out and relaxing in true DIC style.

The ATL Blacks are a beautiful site to see, for many reasons. J. and I kept tabs on a couple of notable treats in line via cell phone. There seemed to be both anxiety and excitement in the air as we waited for the doors to open the line to begin to move. The raising of the flag indicated 7:00AM had arrived, and the line began to move. The woman behind us in a wheelchair was going through her cell phone list calling everyone she knew to make sure they were voting, that they knew where to go, and how to know who and what to vote for. She even began mobilize the family when Grandpa informed her he would not be voting because he was "on vacation looking at pretty girls". Within minutes, she had made three calls to have him picked up and delivered to his designated polling site.

As the line move some more, the poll workers came through to inform anyone who was 75 or older or handicapped that by Federal law, they can go to the front of the line. Our friend in the wheelchair was reluctant at first, not wanting to upset anyone by jumping line. With a little encouragement, she wheeled herself up to the entrance.

Our Mayor, the Honorable Shirley Franklin, showed up to cast her vote. Following placing her vote, she proceeded to walk down the line and greet everyone, stopping to have a few conversations, and thanking people for coming out. She hung around for a good 20-30 minutes. I love her so much. She is a real people's Mayor who always takes the time be social, even during Sunday morning coffee at Starbucks.

Once we finally got inside, we had to endure Georgia's backwater sign in and verification process.

Step one, fill out your voter rights card, show your ID and have it verified. This year they handed these form out while we waited in line, easing some of the pain

Step two: go to the line for our last name and have them look you up in the voter rolls book. This was made unnecessarily confusing by the way the signs were set up on the table: There were three signs, in this order: [ H-O ] [ P-Z ] [ G-A ]. This was obviously to ensure that anyone with dyslexia could not scream foul play, but for the rest of us, it took a minute to figure out what the hell was going on.

Step three: Stand in a line now snaking its way inside the elementary school cafeteria to hand in your now completed voter rights form and get your electronic voter card. Georgia is one of two states to use electronic voting in every county in the entire state. This is the third year we have had it in our county, so most people are used to it.

Step four, find an open voting machine and cast your ballot.

One poor woman accidentally cancelled her ballot and did not know what to do. It seem that neither did the staff. They quickly found their emergency Bat Phone, called in, and in about 10 minutes had her back at a voting terminal to recast her ballot.

We were done by about 8:15AM which I considered to be excellent time. The line was about the same length as it was when we arrived, so if things continue to go smoothly, folks should have a relatively painless time.

I'll do an update after noon when the news channels give a recap of the calls they received on their voter assist hot lines. I've already heard of a few polling sites that opened late, people not knowing that their polling site changed, and people worried about the rumors that if you had unpaid parking tickets, you would not only be turned away at the polls, but could be arrested.

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