Voting Idiot?

I’m going to try to make this quick, because it’s Election Day.  For heaven’s sakes, if you haven’t voted yet, get off your duff and GO!  Assuming you are registered, that is.

I am a voting idiot.  Or I think I might be.  This morning, I tried to vote on campus, at the same location where I voted in 2010, only to be turned away because my voting location is elsewhere in town.  I was pretty pissed about this because apparently, anyone could do early voting on campus, but Election Dating voting has to be done at specific locations.  Why didn’t I know this?!?  Why am I such an idiot?!?

The probable reason that my voting location has changed is the 2010 census.  Okay, fair enough.  But this year, I have experienced several odd things preceding the election.  First, I don’t think I ever received a voter registration card.  Second, with at least one of my on-line attempts to verify my voter registration, my record could not be found.  (I was able to find it using a different site, one that was specific for the state of Texas, I believe.)  It frustrates me, though, that the polling locations were so poorly advertised that when I headed to the polls, I literally had NO IDEA I was in the wrong place.  And to be honest, before today, I would not have known how to find out where I should go to vote.  I don’t generally consider myself an idiot, but I’m feeling pretty idiotic today.

The good news, however, is threefold:

1)  I am indeed registered to vote.  Hurray!

2)  I know where to go today, it’s on my way home, and the polls are open until 7 PM, which makes my workday easier.

3)  Today, Google has a groovy algorithm to show you where to go to vote.  I wish I’d seen it this morning, but eh—better to find it today while the polls are still open:

Find your voting location and hours.

I can verify that Google’s instructions match what I was told this morning by election officials, so fist bumps all around for that!

Happy voting, American readers!  Have you voted yet?

(And next time around, I will be more diligent about finding my polling location.  I prefer to learn things the hard way, of course.  Because I am an idiot.)