I arrived at the polls at 6:56 AM. There were about 12 people ahead of me in line for the 7:00 open. It's interesting to me that my polling place is a motel not far from where I live. There is a conference room toward the front of the building and we vote there. As the motel guests came down and enjoyed the coffee and danish that was out for them right in front of us, the morning news discussed both local issues and the primary just behind us in the lobby.

In Georgia, this is the first election where voters are required to show a government issued photo ID. I was interested to see the impact of that (as I opposed that measure when we voted on it last year, which was sponsored by conservatives to keep poor and black/brown folks from voting) but all I saw was a sign on the wall declaring the new requirement. Personally, I've always used my driver's license to prove my identity at the polls but I wondered how many legitimate voters in Georgia were being effectively disenfranchised because of this poll tax - uh, new law.

Inside the conference room there were 10 portable voting machines. The actual machines, which look just like large tablet computers, appear to fold up out of a plastic shelled carrying case. They've got shiny silver colored legs supporting them and come up to about my waist. When I walked up, the first thing that I noticed was the "DIEBOLD" name. Of course that gave me lots of confidence! All I could think about was the Diebold CEO proclaiming during the first GW Bush election that he'd do anything to ensure a Bush victory. Great!

There were only two votes to be cast. One for the Democratic nominee and then there was a local bond issue as well. The poll worker gave me a little yellow credit card-like "key" that I guess was encoded with my name and party affiliation. You click that in place and the screen immediately displayed the Democratic candidates. I was surprised to see all of the original candidates there - even those who have dropped out. Joe Biden was at the top of the alphabetical list. Even good ole' Mike Gravel was there - bless his heart!

Barack Obama was second to last, in front of Gov. Richardson. I pressed the box on the screen beside Barack Obama! A screen came up to confirm my choice and that was it.

Quick. Easy. Painless.

Thoughtful. Purposeful. Prideful.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: MBM,