Little Energy for Writing Today

The tortoise approach means today has to be about conserving energy and resting for teaching later. Things are getting done, but energy is running low. In general, writing here helps organize and ground me and it usually gives energy back. Today, though there’s not enough even to work on getting the lift and perspective.

On a cool note, Anna Shea is serving as an election judge again today—despite being, in her words, “very, very annoyed” that she is just a few months too young to vote. She was quoted saying as much (in the article's lead) in the local newspaper’s story about the mock election at Urbana High School. She participated but opined that the primary effect of the whole exercise was to rub it in that she's not allowed to vote "for real." Today is her second stint as an election judge, in a cool local program of the local County Clerk (R) to fill out the very sparse ranks of election judges and to involve high school kids in the process. She was up in time to be at her assigned polling place to set up by 5 a.m. She is at one of the campus precincts today, and it should be hopping, both with voters and challenges to those voters. The election judges do the first-level ruling on the challenges, within a certain set of parameters.

The campaigns have been recruiting lawyers to staff polling places to make and to defend against challenges to voters. Our campus precincts are always hotbeds of challenges. When I asked a good lawyer friend what Shea needed to know when challenges were placed to student voters, he said: “Tell her not to let any of the older judges bully her: there’s no chief among the judges, and her vote on a challenge counts as much as anyone else’s. She should follow what she thinks is right and be assertive about it.” So that’s what we told her. The other judges should fasten their seat belts. It will be fascinating to hear about how the day unfolds.

Kearney has voted and is exhilarated. She writes that she doesn’t know how anyone can be cross on such a great day. We’re on our way to vote shortly, on the way to PT, and are looking forward to getting our own lift from participating.

Have a great election day.