My current work schedule allows me a three-day weekend. Unfortunately, these three days are Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I can't say I'm overjoyed with it but this does free me up to do super exciting things like...drive to Oregon City with my sister on a Monday afternoon.

She didn't receive a mail-in ballot despite updating her address twice earlier this year. A lost mail-in form prevented her from voting in the primaries and a second attempt a few months ago also failed to sail through the proper channels. Was there some sort of malicious conspiracy at work to keep a young Democrat like her from voting? Had the McCain campaign arranged some sort of botched diabolical plan to destroy ballots in Ohio but somehow confused that state with Oregon? Or was a series of boring office snafus to blame? Whatever the culprit, with a day to go until Election Day and no ballot, she only had one option if she wanted to vote: making a trip to the Clackamas County Elections office.

I went along expecting to get an anecdote (and a trip to Dutch Brothers) out of the whole thing. Given the state's mail-in ballot program, neither of us had set foot in a voting center before. I figured we'd encounter a chaotic line snaking around the block or at least a few overly-earnest volunteers running around in Uncle Sam hats but there was none of that. There were only a few people waiting ahead of us and we were in and out of there in under ten minutes flat. After jotting down her new address and a short wait, she was handed a ballot. Interesting side note: no one asked her for ID.

All things considered, this was probably a lot better than spending a few hours standing in the rain. Plus, I scored a free and completely worthless copy of Oregon's 2008 Recall Manual. Also, there was the minor thrill of taking the photograph above, which I'm at least 10 - 12% breaks some sort of law. Hoorah for living dangerously.

Labels: politics