All I can do now is wait

I've voted. The line wasn't so bad. It took me, from start to finish, about 45 minutes. I think the only thing that kept it from being shorter is the bus of about 15 elderly people who got to go to the front of the line.

A few things about the voting process. The first is how easy it is to get that little voter card in your hand. They didn't check my ID or my voter registration card. I just had to tell them my name, my address, and my birth date. Not too hard to find that information. But, I guess, what would be someone's motivation really for impersonating me in order to vote? Most people are after more tangible gain than one vote. And how would they know if I had voted yet that day? It would probably get sorted out, so I'm not too worried. The second is how quick it really is, assuming, I guess, that you can read, and you've thought about the ballot ahead of time. The third is how I fear those people standing the proper distance from the polling place and harassing you.

"Have a Sample Ballot"
"No, thanks."
"But it's the ballot you'll be voting on, you should really look at it."
"I already have."

Seriously? Shut up and leave me alone.

"MAKE SURE TO VOTE OBAMA/BIDEN AND FOR STENY HOYER"

Dude, I can read your big OBAMA sign. I know you're trying to help. But if we say no once, just take it. And don't yell things at me like I'm some kind of idiot.

Ugh. It annoys me. Of course I would like everyone to vote for my preferred candidates, but I think it's a personal decisions. And I think it's safe to assume that if people have come out to vote and don't run in the other direction when they see a long line in the middle of a cloudy, rainy November day, the odds are they already know who/what they're going to vote for. It bothers me, these people standing there and badgering me (ok, maybe they aren't that bad, and I get the point and all, but I don't like having to say no 17 times OR be rude and ignore them.)

It reminds me of all those seemingly friendly people in Charleston on our honeymoon that wanted to offer us friendly tourism information. Except all they really wanted to do was trick us into listening to them for 20 minutes in an attempt to convince us that that free dinner was worth a 4 hours jaunt through town to look at time shares and make us listen to seminars on the value of one of said time shares. Dude, we're 26, we don't have any money, and I highly doubt we're your target audience. They probably get some sort of commission for every person they lure in.

Anyway, back to my original train of thought--I've voted. It was simple, and I can't stand they wait. When do they start that exit pole business? I want some numbers NOW!