Oregon was the first state to exclusively go to voting by mail by passing a measure in November 1998 by a 70% to 30% margin after starting with optional for local voting in the late eighties.
Our ballots came thru our mail slot along with a flyer for Bed Bath & Beyond on Friday afternoon. We had planned on filling them out on Saturday, but got to watching college football and didn’t get it done. So we did it this morning.
Even with all falderal from a certain President, we have zero qualms about the process because of this state’s long history with voting by mail. Still, we won’t actually mail our ballots, we dropped them into an official collection box like we did for the primary back in May. Unlike back then though, today we rode the tandem instead of walking.
When we rode into the parking lot where the drop box was, there was a young couple with their toddler standing next to it. We circled the lot a couple of times while they unloaded, then loaded back, their kid so the child could put their ballots in the slot. And all the while they snapped photos of the process to post on social media. I didn’t have a problem waiting this out at all, because I planned on that same sort of exercise for us too (see my InstaGram account.)
As we were loading back up onto the bike to leave, a fellow in a pickup truck cruised up to the box to drop in his ballot. I said to him, “Happy Election Day.” He looked at me sort of quizzically and replied, “Yeah, you too. Have a nice day.” Come to think of it, Happy Election Day does sound a little strange, but what would have been a more appropriate greeting anyway? Merry Election Day? How about “Go Democracy?” Maybe a golf style cheer, “In the Slot!”?
The only downside to the whole Vote by Mail deal is I don’t get a little “I Voted” sticker to wear around all day…
