Vote Vote Vote

If I had a special power, you know that hypothetical special power we all think about in a what if way, it would be to know everything that’s happening in the world at all times. My brain would obviously have a way to process all of the information in order to prevent it from exploding! Paying attention to politics and the news is the closest I’ve come to getting my fix for ALL WORLD KNOWLEDGE. With that in mind, I am happy to report that we will be casting our votes on November 2nd in California, for candidates and ballot measures and propositions. I was elated when The Voter Information Pamphlet and Sample Ballot came in the mail. I couldn’t wait to soak up all the information available. I like voting, and there are many reasons for that.

One of those reasons happens to be my designated voting place. It’s at an old folks home a few blocks away from my apartment. I never know what will happen when I walk through those double doors. There are about two or three little old Russian ladies that speak no English, and one younger volunteer, who sit at a long table with scattered papers strew about. I greet them and tell the little old lady my name and she starts to flip through the pages as if with an agenda. She looks up at me after a few pages and I repeat myself. She flips though the pages back to the beginning. Forward and backward, she scrolls through the pages a few times. I say, “R, my name starts with an R”. That’s when the big guns are brought in, the youngest volunteer jumps in to help her find my name. She raises her eyebrows as if to suggest ah, yes, here it is, I found it. She hands me the pen and I sign my name. I always look forward to seeing these ladies. It always brightens my day.

I like filling out the little paper and taking it with me on the day of and using that huge black marker to connect the arrow to my choice. And after you’ve made your choices and connected the arrows, you get to feed your pages into the machine. It sucks them up super fast! After, they hand you this red circular sticker that says, “I voted, ya voté and the equivalent in Chinese characters.” I used to live in Oregon where all the voting is done by mail. There was no going down to the designated place to cast your vote. You fill in your choices and send it back before the rest of the country does their voting. It’s much less exciting than going on the specified day and casting your vote with the rest of the country. It’s not a perfect system by any means, and whether or not I agree with the outcome, I enjoy being part of the process.

This November 2nd I will be voting No on Proposition L. If this proposition passes it will make it illegal for people, any person, not just bums, to sit and lie down on sidewalks in San Francisco from 7am to 11pm. You may not see the problem with this proposition, as you think you’re always on the move, but my boyfriend is an artist and as he pointed out, he wouldn’t be allowed to sit on a curb to sketch if this was in effect. I believe this issue is a symptom of a larger problem, and should be fixed in another way. Also, very important to those of us that live in the Tenderloin, which is in District 6, Chris Daly’s seat as Supervisor of is up for grabs! It’s very important to me that we pick the right person. District 6 is large and encompasses the Embarcadero and the Financial District and part of the Mission, but the Tenderloin needs some TLC, so if you too live in this district, do some research and find out who you think will benefit our community. Or watch the video at the bottom of the page, which shows the candidates debating the issues. And of course remember to register to vote!