[jess]

I voted on Friday. There were long lines, I was surprised. I had to be in one line because I moved and they weren't certain my change in registration went through, so they had me re-register there. My line was over an hour. The line of registered voters was much longer. Made me feel good.

We also had to vote on a county sales and use tax in place of the property tax to pay for parks, EMS and public transportation and also whether or not city employees should get paid sick time.

As we were handing in our ballots to have them signed by a witness, an older black man approached me and asked if he'd filled his out right. I go over it with him, and explain the difference between voting straight Democrat/Republican or going through each position and selecting the individual. He asked me if I'd voted before, and I told him I have been since I turned 18. He seemed surprised and I told him I felt obligated given that people of his generation fought and died so that I could vote. He told me he felt sheepish being 63 and voting for the first time, but he'd never had anyone to vote for before. Like a lot of people, he said he never thought he'd see the day. Then we both got teary eyed and handed in our ballots.