Today was the primary election here in Illinois, and the first time that we have had the opportunity to vote in our new town. We’ve been accustomed to voting in the city of Chicago – voting in the western suburbs seemed very different than voting in Cook County. We’re used to long lines, indifferent election officials, red tape and bureaucracy, and being in the democratic majority. Here in our new suburb, we’re in the minority – our town is very republican – which is true of most of Illinois outside of Chicago.

The first, and most important, key to voting was finding our voter registration cards. After much looking, blaming each other, and retracing our steps, we found them. We read up on the Tax Referendums facing our town, learned about who was running locally, and made our plan to vote early today.

We voted in a small elementary school just down the street from us, at around 6:50 AM this morning.

The magic of voting took place in a very narrow multi-purpose room, with desks stacked against a wall, and tiny collapsible voting booths erected in a line. I think the election officials were surprised we asked for a democratic ballot. I don’t think they see many democrats in these here parts. I tried to share with them that it was our first time voting in our new town, and that we were new around here, but they were all business and uninterested in my story. And a little annoyed that I tried to be social with them.

We both voted, and were not challenged by any officials and didn’t even need to show our newly found voter ID cards or personal IDs. We didn’t even have to wait in line. I was hoping for a more scandalous story, but that’s really all that happened. Oh, and it was cold and wet. And early. And I’m sick, so I cough a lot. And we got our “I Voted Today” stickers, and I wore my sticker proudly to my client meeting, all day.

I voted for Obama.