I registered to vote while living at the UNM dorms, so my polling location today was at the Student Residence Center. Little signs of printer paper taped to the wall directed me into a small room where I was greeted warmly, if not desperately. I was the second voter, I was told, in the three-and-a-half hours the poll has been open. The volunteers were so excited that one offered to wash my car. My guess is that with little else to pass the time they ran out of things to chat about. They fumbled through the voter charts and mistakenly led me to the automated scanner before I had even completed the ballot. I realized the absurdly slow morning afforded the volunteers almost no chance to get the hang of the voting protocol.Not that I deserve to be righteous. I’m ashamed to admit that as a young adult this morning was my first time voting in a municipal election. And while the precinct where I voted is just one out of many—one that happens to comprise chiefly on-campus residences—I feel the deserted poll is emblematic of the great extent to which people my age neglect the duty of being a citizen, especially when it comes to city elections.But it would be my great pleasure if you all turned out and I was obliged to shove my foot in my mouth for ever doubting you (my yoga instructor would be so proud). To find your polling location, visit the Bernalillo County poll finder.
5 Bored Polling Officials
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