OK, we’ve been bombarded by months and months of political ads, rallies, debates, mailers, robo-calls and so on. Today it’s your opportunity to have the final say.
If you haven’t turned in your absentee ballot, you can drop it off at any polling place to save yourself the cost of postage and ensure it’s received on time (absentee ballots have to be postmarked no later than today).
If, like me, you’re one of the remaining voters who opt to go to the polls, they’re open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. today.
After that, stop by Starbucks for a free coffee. Really, anyone can get the free cup, since it turns out that offering voters an incentive could violate state and federal law, but c’mon, if you’re a registered voter and didn’t vote, how lame would that be to ask for a free cuppa joe?
Update 9:50 a.m.: Our polling place this morning was absolutely packed. Normally there are just a couple of people wandering in at any given time, but at the Ballard Free Methodist Church on NW 73rd St. and 14th Ave. NW, every voting booth was taken, plus they had set up a number of long tables for people to vote at if they didn’t want to wait for a booth. And those tables were full, too. Plus, they had set up four round bistro tables which were full of people drinking coffee and eating pastries they’d bought from the church workers. Our polling place had seen 220 voters already this morning – one poll worker told us that was more than they normally see in an entire day. Democracy in action, for sure.
Please tell us what you’re seeing at your polling place!
And we have reports that the Starbucks on Greenwood and 67th is doing a brisk business handing out free drip coffee to anyone who asks.
