Early Voting

 Doug and I weren't sure that we would be able to vote in person on November 4th, so we decided to request mail-in ballots.  We had never voted in Florida before, so we weren't sure exactly who was running for what and how to fill out our ballots.  First, I did a lot of research last week on each candidate and all six amendments on the ballot this election.  Then I read and reread all of the directions on how to fill it out and return it to the Marion County board of elections.  Once I felt comfortable, I explained it to Doug and we filled out our ballots, filed them in the "secrecy sleeve" and signed the return envelope.  

Before I mailed the ballots, I found out that I could drop off our envelopes at the local library beginning the first day of early voting which was actually yesterday.  I was very happy about that as there was a library a little over a mile from our home.  I had never really wanted to mail them since our post office is not the greatest in delivering mail on time.  My opinion changed quickly when I pulled into the library yesterday morning.  The parking lot was packed, and voters were being asked to park in the grass lot beside the library.  The line to get into the library was at least a 100 people deep.  There were signs and supporters of all type outside of the library as well.  

After seeing all of the chaos in person, I decided to drive straight to the post office.  I knew it was a risk as our ballots could arrive late or not at all, but I thought it was worth it.  I realized that it was the first day of early voting, but I didn't want to drive through that mess ever again.  The bright spot was that people were taking the election seriously.  It will be very interesting to see the final results.