Bytemarks

This couple was standing right behind me in line at Waiau Elementary School to take part in the Hawaii Democratic Caucus. Although we spent about an hour in line it was an upbeat mood. I was there because I wanted to experience this first hand. I think others were there because they felt there needed to be a change implemented in this country. There’s been enough damage done by our current administration and the long lines were an indication that a lot of people felt the same way. By the time I got to Waiau Elementary the line of people snaked outside of the cafeteria, down the sidewalk and along the road leading to the school. I arrived at 6:00pm but by the time I parked and found my place in line it was 6:30. The line moved slowly toward the cafeteria then suddenly stopped. A lot of people had their blue registration cards so like me they were first timers to a caucus. A friend of mine in front of me said there is usually a precinct meeting before the caucus but with all this people who knows what the agenda was. I didn’t care about any precinct meeting. I just wanted to vote. I think the organizers realized this and devised a way to speed things up. They started letting blocks of 250 people into the cafeteria to just vote. Originally they were having people determine their precinct number and meet at a designated table. They trashed that idea and told people if you are from District 34 go to that side of the cafeteria and if you were District 36 go to this side. As you walked in they took your blue card, no questions asked, no cross-checking any registered voter list. As I walked to my side of the cafeteria someone handed me a little piece of paper with four names on it. I checked off my candidate of choice and looked around to where I should drop off my ballot. The lady next to me at the table said just put it in this brown envelop. I did and that was it. I snapped off this picture and was out of there. As you can see from the clock on the wall, I was out by 7:30pm. Very painless. The process might have been a little loose around the edges. I never really confirmed my precinct and no one confirmed that I was a registered voter (which I am). But the main thing was I got to vote and made to feel like I made a difference. I commend the organizers for making that a seamless experience.