Back at the Administration Building

Today my dad is the inspiration for my post.

Election days are always big days in my family. My parents taught me and my sister that voting was a responsibility and a privilege. I've been registered since the day I was eligible to register, I think, and every election has brought a new level of excitement. As a matter of fact, I can't believe I'm in here on the computer while Tom Brokaw and Brian Williams are talking about who got what state.

Anyway, this morning, my dad went to his polling place to vote, waited in line for an hour, and was told that he had voted early. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I would think you would know if you had voted early.

My dad told them that there had been a mistake and that he had NOT cast his ballot yet. Of course, they sent him to the dreaded administration building. I'm thinking at this point that I need to change my blog and post only about that building since it has provided such inspiration to this point.

As you have probably already guessed, Daddy went up to the voter registration place and they told him that although they didn't have his signature anywhere, they were sure he had voted. They said it was possible that another Dodson had voted and they had accidentally marked my dad's name, but that he couldn't cast a normal vote because they had to be sure.

Let me stop here and say that Dodsons have very short tempers. And, we're pretty volatile when we get angry. Daddy said that this morning was the closest he's ever been to being arrested. I kind of believe it the way he was throwing around expletives when I was talking to him.

Back to the story...the folks at the admin building told Daddy to cast a provisional ballot (meaning it won't be counted until Friday) and the conversation, according to Daddy, went something like this:

Daddy: So my vote isn't going to count?

Some poor girl behind the counter: Oh, yes sir, your vote will count. All votes count.

Daddy: No, no it won't count. If it's provisional and you're not counting it until Friday, what does it matter then?

Girl: It counts.

Daddy: Whatever.

After all of this, my dad is convinced that the election is rigged and that if Obama wins, it's because everything was set up. After watching the Today Show this morning, I might be inclined to agree. Meredith and Matt were practically decorating the oval office for Obama this morning.

Well, I guess since it's only 8 p.m., we'll just have to wait and see.