Pretty uneventful, really. I voted at Firehouse #17 here in Dallas, on Belmont St.

It was drizzling this morning. I had to park about three blocks away because of the cars, and I thought the line might be long, but it wasn't bad. On the way up to the firehouse, an middle-aged couple approached me and handed me a flyer...the woman was running for a judge position.

Inside, it only took about five minutes from sign-in to vote. They were paper ballots with Sharpie bubble-ins. After filling them in, you just stick them in a machine.

Even with daylight saving time, it was still a little dark and overcast, and my one problem with the polling place, besides the lack of good parking, was that it was pretty dark inside. There were no overhead lights above the voting booths. So when it came to reading Proposition 1, which dealt with the ability of local officials to approve pay raises for particular positions without additional oversight, I had to pick up my ballot and turn it toward the outside to read it.

Anyway, I voted for Bush...but you all knew that anyway. I did stare at the names for a few seconds, and (very) briefly considered voting for Badnarik, the libertarian, as a protest vote. But I figured that was a cop-out.

Yesterday I found out that because of the Texas redistricting, I'm now actually in District 30, so I wasn't even choosing between Pete Sessions and Martin Frost. Instead, for my House Rep, I was choosing between Eddie Bernice Johnson, a Democrat, and John Davis, a Libertarian. There's not even a Republican running in my district, which I thought was mighty strange. Anyhow, I voted for Johnson. There were a dozen or so circuit court judges, railroad commissioner, and Texas congress positions to vote for. I typically voted for Republicans for legislative seats, and Dems and Libertarians for judge positions.

And that was it...took about ten minutes total.

I'll watch the returns with interest tonight, though unlike most people, I'm pretty comfortable with either Kerry or Bush as our next President. I'd prefer Bush, but only by a thin margin. I think his outlook and stance on foreign policy is the right one, even if his administration's execution of it isn't always ideal. I think he'll have a difficult time, because there is such widespread animosity (much of it very simple-minded and reactionary). But if he is elected, I hope it is by a wide margin, which will hopefully help mitigate some of the divisiveness, and give him a clearer mandate.

If Kerry does win, I wish him well, and hope that he can actually do some of the things he says he will, in terms of restoring international goodwill toward the US. I'm highly skeptical, but again, I wish him well and hope he does a decent job if elected.