So Now We Wait...

I arrived at my polling place at 7:15 this morning -- a civic sacrifice of significant proportions for this night person. I had intended to arrive at about 6:45 or so, but that was just too much to ask. Apparently, anyone who arrived at 7:00, when the polls opened, had the same one-hour wait that I did. Which is truly amazing, since the line stretched halfway down the block, down one hall inside the elementary school, down another hall, took a u-turn and snaked back down those same two halls, and only then did you get inside the school cafeteria where you could sign in and actually vote. Kudos to the poll workers who kept things running so smoothly. Montgomery County Maryland is firmly in the Obama camp, but we had four ballot questions to decide as well, plus our folks in the House of Representatives and a smattering of judges and school board members. Today was the last hurrah for touch screen-only balloting in our county. We will go to optically scanned paper ballots in 2010. After today's vote, we will know whether we can vote early (instead of merely absentee) next time as well. Just seeing all those good folks lined up to cast their votes this morning made it worth the wait. It's 5:00 PM, and the first exit poll results should be trickling out just about now. So now, we watch and wait...