My Voting Experience 2008

Two weeks ago I voted and yes it was extremely exciting. I registered to vote on Senator Obama's website, and you can also register here. 

The day I went to vote so many things were running through my mind; would the lines be long, what would the overall feeling be afterwards, but mostly I worried about being discriminated against. 

In researching our American past, I discovered that our country has a history of disenfranchising people of their human rights, so it made me leery that I might be tested -- and tested I was. 

Arriving at the polls nice early, and happy that I beat the morning traffic, I walked in wearing a big smile on my face clearly anxious to fulfill my mission. I was given a form to fill out before I could vote and after it was completed, I walked back to the counter to hand it in to an older white woman who asked me for my identification. As I showed the woman my ID card she immediately rejected it, saying that it was the wrong ID and I couldn't use it. 

While I tried explaining to her that I used the exact same ID card to register to vote and had no problems, she persisted on stating "Well, the ID is wrong and if you don't have proper ID, you can't vote."

Little did this woman know just how persistent I could be, as I proceeded again to explain to her that I am a registered voter and I should be able to vote. The woman pinched her lips tightly together while giving me a look of disgust, and in her southern drawl she said "Look, I'm not gonna argue with you, and I'm not putting my initials on this!" 

I smirked, "Who's arguing?"

It was obvious that I wasn't moving from my spot in line, which forced the the woman to walk over and verify my paperwork with another poll worker. As the new accessory to the crime walked over to me, she relayed information that I needed to get a voter ID card free of charge from the courthouse, and promised to hold my paperwork until I returned. 

Walking out the door I felt dazed, as if I in fact just lived the very fear that I kept thinking of. Did I bring it upon myself because I thought about it? 

Why couldn't that lady just ask for help the first time, if she wasn't sure how to guide me? And why would she flat out tell me I couldn't vote if it wasn't true? She didn't bother to find an answer, she was just quick to turn me away.

Finally, I arrived at the courthouse and asked the middle-aged white woman that sat behind the desk wearing security attire, for a free voter ID card. She asked to see my current ID, in which I took out the same identification card used at the polls. Immediately the woman said, "Oh you don't need a voter ID card, you can use this ID."

My eyes almost popped out of my head as I yelled, "What!?" 

I gave her the background of what happened prior to me coming to the courthouse to see her, but she insisted that the ID I had was valid proof of who I was. Almost panicking I exclaimed to her that there's a particular woman, that will not let me vote using my ID card. Sensing my hesitation prompted her to reassure me, as she opened a brochure and pointed to the evidence that proved her claim. 

Silence permeated the space between us for about two minutes, as I stood and stared in total disbelief that all this was for nothing. I couldn't understand why the woman lied to me; in Malcolm X's words "I was hoodwinked!" 

The woman behind the courthouse desk was first to interrupt the silence, as she encouraged me to go back to the polling site to cast my vote. Speaking emotionally I said, "Oh no, that lady is going to turn me away again." 

She smiled at me as if she were hiding a secret, and I watched her lean over to pick up the phone. I listened to her talk to someone at the polling site, warning them that I was on my way back to vote using my ID card and she even gave the person my name. After she hung up the phone she smiled at me, and again, reassuringly sent me on my way. Before walking out the door I made sure to grab that same brochure, just in case I had to shove it in the woman's face.

As I made my way back to the polls, the same excitement I felt when I first arrived was gone. Instead, I walked through the doors numb to the experience trying to prepare myself for the worst, in which I noticed a few poll workers looked surprised when they saw me. I know this because they actually looked at me and said, "Wow, so you really came back?" 

This infuriated me. Why did they assume that I'd give up so easily? And coincidentally the older woman that previously gave me the hard time, ended up in a backroom eating her lunch. She ate her lunch the entire time I was there as I glared at her through the glass window, making it clear that she had thoroughly pissed me off.

After I voted, I turned my card in and received my first ever voting sticker. As I walked toward the doors that almost didn't allow me to walk through them the first time, the poll workers consistently apologized to me for the mishap that occurred earlier -- everyone except for the one that should've apologized. And by the time I left, I'm sure she probably wished the glass window in which I glared at her through would've turned opaque.

Although my fears about voting (especially voting in Georgia) derived from historical evidence, I'm glad that I didn't allow it to hold me back. I felt as if I had forewarned myself without knowing that that was what I was doing.  

I encourage all to get out and vote, and vote in record breaking numbers so even when they try to steal our votes, it'll be to many of us to lose.

If you voted early and want to make sure your vote was counted, click this link and put in your required information. It should show you both the date of when you registered and voted. 

2008 LA