by Avery White

“Advanced voting”: how chic. The term implies a V.I.P status, one of prestige and productivity- at least in the context of a small southern town. But glamorous it was not. I waited in line for hours; often resisting the urge to lie down on the floor and submit to hysteria. There was a line which circled around the building just to get into the door; but the outside portion of line waiting was pleasant enough. The weather was nice and the air was crisp with political fervor. It was initially a scenic wait. I looked up at the blue, sunny sky; I watched people stroll by and gawk at the spectacle of line-waiters. I looked around and tried to pick out likely fellow Obama voters. It seemed I was outnumbered. In approximately thirty minutes I had reached the inside of the building only to discover, to my horror, a zigzag of a never-ending line. The air wasn’t so crisp anymore. Babies were screaming, people were glaring, a waft of body odor hung like a cloud of doom above our heads and there was the constant sound of chewing gum and the shifting of body weight. I watched as the people around me resituated their standing bodies in an attempt to alleviate their boredom and discomfort. I tried to read but the temperature (extremely hot) and stuffiness of the room prompted repeated spells of dizziness. Trying not to faint is one thing, trying to resist leaving a line you’ve already invested over an hour of your time in when you have to use the restroom is quiet another. I made the dreadful mistake of drinking a whole bottle of water before I arrived at the voting venue that afternoon and it was knocking loudly at my bladder’s exit doors. I called one of my friends in search of a pep talk. I chose her specifically because she is one of the more enthusiastic people I know in terms of this year’s election. I told her I was considering leaving the line; I described the miserable conditions; I informed her that there was a code Red possibility I was going to pee in my pants if I didn’t leave soon. “Obama isn’t going to win in Georgia anyways, what’s the point of me staying here?” She reminded me of the women who fought for my right to vote. She reminded me that Georgia is a swing state. She reminded me of the Presidential alternative for Obama; and then she reminded me of that alternative’s back-up plan (Sarah Palin). The last one did the trick.

I am a fit, healthy, 21 year-old woman with low blood pressure and strong legs and this three hour wait almost killed me! How is an old lady supposed to endure voting lines if I can’t? It’s not just old ladies I would categorize as victims of this problematic voting situation. Our country’s elders are the first people to come to mind, but I have a long list of citizens who should not have to stand in line for over two hours, just to be heard. What about a single mom who works for herself and cant afford to take off that precious time? What about a handicap person? What about a pregnant woman? What about someone who is ill? If my flu from five days before had happened to be this week, I wouldn’t have voted.

I’m writing this commentary with the assumption that everywhere in the United States will have lines that extend past the entrance into the parking lot. My mother who lives in Atlanta has apparently walked right into the voter booth with a zero wait time during the last few elections. But what about states without advanced voting? Citizens in these states have a small window of opportunity to cram voting into their Tuesday agenda. Not only is there a pressure to accomplish something so important in a single day, everybody else in that state will be doing the same thing in the same venues. I can’t even begin to imagine how long those poor people have to wait

Now I’m in no way claiming to know a solution to this problem. I understand there are all kinds of buerocratic issues I’m unaware of which limit voting options, blah blah, blah. I find it hard to believe that in America our voting system remains this antiquated for a “good reason”. A filter exists that continues to weed out and marginalize the voice of those who would be unable to vote under its current conditions, yet we have done very little to solve that problem. Couldn’t our country, “the greatest country in the world”, not come up with a more efficient and accommodating voting process? Doesn’t our government want desperately to ensure the right candidate (as decided by everyone’s vote) is put into office? Shouldn’t all Americans be able to vote with ease?

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