Votus Interruptus

Jacob Sullum | November 2, 2004

After discovering that my polling place is at my daughter's elementary school, just a few blocks from here, I dropped by this morning, only to be deterred by a neighbor's report that the wait was 50 minutes. "It's not worth it," I muttered, turning back toward my car. "Maybe your vote isn't," she said, in what was possibly a sly reference to my Libertarian leanings. (I'm sure her vote for Kerry will make the difference between a decisive win for Bush in Virginia and a decisive win for Bush in Virginia.) I may try again this afternoon, although I have a feeling my registration didn't take. I sent in the requisite paperwork at least a week before the deadline, but I never received the "voter information card" to which my county's Web site refers. If there's anything more pointless than waiting 50 minutes to vote against Bush in Virginia, it's waiting 50 minutes to find out you're ineligible to vote.