From art director Alexander Flores, who almost never sees sunrise:
At the Village Country Club at around 7:30 a.m., the line was long for a few of the other precincts set up there, but for 1213, my precinct, no line at all, which makes me wonder what the makeup is for that particular area (could be a bunch of early voters). As far as the people went: all kinds, not just the usual khakis I'm used to seeing during election time at this location. Other than that, it was low-key and quiet, everyone patiently waiting in line.After the jump, our latest addition grapples with provisional voting. --Robert Wilonsky From Web Editor Patrick Michels:
The woman at Starbucks had "VOTE" painted across her forehead, so as she handed over my free cup of coffee I felt a little guilty knowing I may have just scammed her. I'd heard they were trading free coffee for votes, but if one of them asked me if I'd cast a ballot, the best I could offer is, I tried. My "Notice to Provisional Voter" says it could be 19 days before I know for sure.
Without confusing things too much, I'll just say that I moved recently, and after I mailed in my new registration the county sent a letter telling me there was a problem with the Texas Driver's License number I'd given. Since I don't have a Texas license (I registered with my Social Security number), I called to find out what I should do. I got through to a very helpful woman there who looked up my records -- at least, that's what it sounded like -- and told me I'd be fine after all, it was their mistake. I should be getting a registration card in the mail, but if not, I should just show up at my polling location.
I could've been among the first 30 to vote at the Lakewood Library in East Dallas, toward the front of a long line by the time the polls opened. Instead, turns out I wasn't on any of their records, so I dropped a folded blue ballot into what looked like a padded party cooler, the box where provisional ballots await... whatever really happens to provisional ballots. I'm hoping it gets counted, but at the very least, it felt a lot like voting.
If it turns out they don't count it, I figured, at least I got this stolen coffee. Now, of course, it turns out they're giving it away to everyone. I might need to head over to Krispy Kreme and steal a donut too.
