If you noticed my absence yesterday, it was because I flew to Missouri early in the morning to do some book publicity throughout the week and hopefully some GOTV around election day.
Considering I was going to be here on November 4, I stopped by the Brooklyn office of the New York State Board of Elections the day before I left to cast an early vote for Barack Obama. I was really, really excited. Not only is voting a pretty emotional experience for me, but for the first time (save voting for a local public advocate candidate) I was going to vote for someone I really believed in, someone who really inspired me.
New York state allows early voting. One simply goes to the Board of Elections in his or her borough, fills out an application for an absentee ballot and is given the ballot on the spot to fill out. I did this in 2004 (I was in Ohio getting out the vote) and though the process was a little tedious, it seemed like an okay system to me. I voted and was on my way to Ohio, bright eyed and bushy tailed, thinking I was going to save the world with my GOTV super powers.
Fast forward four years. I'm not exactly working so hard to save the world, but I am working. So Monday I went into the board of elections around 5 p.m. to vote.
Except, I didn't get to.
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