When I turned eighteen, I have to be honest, I was pretty excited about the fact that I could vote, however I was a year short of the cut off and had to wait until this year to vote. Now making my decision was not an easy one, I watched all debates and looked into all candidates thoroughly because I wanted to be an informed voter when the day came.

For all these years leading up I have had solid expectations for voting day.

I excepted to wait in a ridiculously long line where protesters would heckle me. Then when I finally arrived inside I expected a thorough security system such as metal detectors and police waiting around once I actually entered the building. I didn’t think to much about how I would be given my ballot, but I did expect to be at a cubicle that was enclosed where no one could see me. On the actual ballot I excepted over twenty items and to not understand a big portion of the legal jargon. Overall, I expected the process to take a while and be more of a hassle than it would be worth.

What it was actually like.

I ended up voting early because I didn’t think I would have enough time in my busy day on Tuesday, so since I was free earlier I decided why not. I walked up to my court house to about six people sitting behind a desk to greet me. I naturally picked the first one, was asked for my voter’s registration card and ID. I was asked to sign a small screen- for a reason I am unaware- and then was given a receipt. My receipt allowed me to collect my blank ballot and head over to a standing cubicle area where we were all right next to each other, just out in the open, no sheet surrounding each person or anything. I obviously knew there were going to be more than a couple of things to vote on, however I just expected more. Once I was done I put it through a scanner that counts them and was given my sticker and walked out. The whole experience took about fifteen minutes.

I basically thought voting would be a hassle and take up a big chunk of my day, but in the end I was pleased with the fact that it was very easy and effortless. It wasn’t scary or intimidating, in fact it felt liberating! With all this said, I hope people will get out and vote!