Today I walked to my polling place to vote in the primary for the 4th District Court of Appeals. I entered an empty room with no line to vote. The three ladies and one man working the polling place were very excited to see me and almost burst out of their chairs to help me register to vote.
Upon filling out my voter registration form, the nice lady asked for my proof of residence. My heart dropped as I realized: I did not bring my proof of residence. I told this to the lady and she said, “Oh no. Are you sure?” The other people working the polling place echoed her sigh and asked me to check my backpack for any possible bank statements or pieces of mail. I felt silly. How could I have forgotten that you need a proof of residency when you register at the polls? So I told them that it was no problem because I lived right around the corner. I told them that I would go home, grab some mail, and come back. They looked at me in disbelief. So I promised the nice old ladies and old man that I would be right back.
Well I kept my promise and when I returned with some official mail, they had me sign my name on the “change of residency” list. I was the second person to fill out my name. The person who signed above me, I noticed, was fellow College Democrat Josh Fogarty. Then the lady handed me my voting slip. The number on it? 0007.
I was the 7th person to vote at Porchlight today at 4:00pm. And because I was only the second person to register my change of voting address, I can assume that I was only the second student (or close to that) to vote today (as most students have changed residencies since the last election).
And so I returned home, echoing the sigh of the nice old ladies at my polling place.
How depressing! You’d think a phenomenally liberal, world-class institution like UW Madison would produce a strong showing of student voters at the polls, yet the apathy exhibited today rivals that of my coastie bubble hometown of Naperville, Illinois.
Sigh. The beautiful irony lies in the comparison between the amount of students who voted today and the amount who would most likely rally in support of America’s Armed Forces. Thomas Paine is rolling over in his grave.