Blue

Maryland is a diverse, welcoming, and progressive state. Since we just had our elections in the U.S. two days ago, I have had the pleasure of witnessing this firsthand.

There are around 5.8 million Marylanders. This year, about 2.3 million of them voted. In this state, the electorate is allowed to vote early. 430,000 Marylanders chose to do so, representing almost 19% of the total voters according to my calculations. We were allowed to vote for five days during the week before the election. My husband and I didn't want to complicate our commute on Tuesday (election day), so last Friday evening we stood in a line that stretched around the block for 1.25 hours at a civic center to cast our early votes. While we stood outside in the chilly weather, civic-minded folk stopped by and offered to provide additional information about the measures on the ballot. Of course, they all hoped we would vote their way, but they weren't pushy or mean.

The poll workers included fresh-faced middle schoolers who reminded us to turn off our cellphones, kept the lines orderly, and passed out the "I voted, yo voté" stickers as we shuffled back outside after casting our votes. I had never seen such young people volunteering at the polls, and I found it irresistibly cute. I myself feel a little non-young, because this is the 4th presidential election in which I've voted. I'm lucky in that I turned 18 (legal voting age) right before a presidential election, which only comes every four years. On the other hand, this was my husband's first time voting in the U.S., because he became a citizen this year.

We both agreed that voting felt great. It's kind of like going to the doctor's office and getting a clean bill of health, but at the same time everyone around you is getting the same thing done, and you all get a mini thrill. And it feels that way regardless of how you vote. And instead of a lollipop, you get a sticker. On the sticker front, I must say I like the small, simple stickers that we got that say "I voted" in English and Spanish and feature an American flag on a white background. My friends that live in Virginia got stickers that were probably 3 times as large, with a blue background and an American flag, that said "I voted in...Arlington" or Shirlington, etc. I guess there's a wide variety of voting sticker designs in this country, and you can check some of them out for yourself.

As for the content of our ballot in Maryland this year, I'll have to write about that later. But like I said in the beginning, think "progressive."