Election Day!

I voted in my first US election today, and only my second election in my life. It was raining when I got up this morning at 6:30a. You know that's way early for me! I wasn't looking forward to standing in the rain and I was worried that the weather would dampen turnout, but by the time I got to the poll (which was across the street) at 7a, there was already a substantial line! Those people had waited in the rain!! That got me really excited! People in line were mostly quiet but many chatted with their neighbours. I told the woman behind me that it was my first election, and she was so excited for me, I got all verklempt. The church hall held 3 precinct's voting booths. Once we got checked in and signed the list, the wait for a booth was short. I was kind of nervous about getting something wrong, so checked my entries twice. I handed in my ballot, got my sticker and left. One and a half hours of waiting and voting. Well worth it. On my way to work, I passed by 2 more polling places with people lining up out the doors. I'm so happy to see this!

The process to get to this point has involved a lot of waiting. Waiting for the CIS to acknowledge my naturalization application. Waiting to get the appointment for fingerprinting. Waiting at the fingerprinting center. Waiting to get the interview appointment. Waiting at the interview office. Waiting for the swearing in appointment (kind of short this one). Waiting to get into the Sports Arena to be sworn in. Waiting in line to pick up my certificate. Waiting for election day. Waiting to get to the polling booth.

Now we wait for the results, and hope.

(Photo above by Danny Moloshok/Reuters, who took these while I was in line.)