{"id":4502,"date":"2020-11-01T11:31:36","date_gmt":"2020-11-01T11:31:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=4502"},"modified":"2023-03-23T13:54:54","modified_gmt":"2023-03-23T13:54:54","slug":"the-vote-almost-normal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/11\/01\/the-vote-almost-normal\/","title":{"rendered":"The vote: almost normal"},"content":{"rendered":"

I voted the other day and was struck that the experience was pretty impressive \u2013 and almost normal.<\/span><\/p>\n

The impressive part: For all the claims about potential problems at the polls, I was impressed how organized everything was. I decided to vote that afternoon because the county website said there was only an eight-minute wait. (It ended up being more like five.)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I got checked in quickly and directed to the ballot station. A worker there handed me a ballot, reminded me there were choices on both sides, and pointed me to the voting booths. I waited a moment for one to open and then voted just like I do every election. I put my ballot through the scanner, got a \u201cNO BULL \/ I VOTED\u201d sticker and left.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
An occasional series on the 2020 election in North Carolina.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The almost normal part: The hand sanitizer, the dots on the floor telling me where to stand, and the pen, which I got to keep.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, for all the brouhaha about problems, it felt pretty routine (for, um, voting in a pandemic).<\/span><\/p>\n

To explore this, our student journalists are publishing a series of stories<\/a> we\u2019re calling \u201cThe Vote.\u201d The stories document the routine and not-so routine aspects of voting in 2020. The stories explain how ballot counting works<\/a>, why you’re getting a free pen<\/a>, how they wipe down the voting booths<\/a>, what it’s like to vote by mail<\/a> and vote curbside<\/a> and what Derek Bowens<\/a>, Durham’s finicky director of elections, plays to wake up on Election Day.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s an election we won\u2019t forget. And we get to keep the pen.<\/span><\/p>\n

Above photo of Durham voting stations by Henry Haggart | The 9th Street Journal<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I voted the other day and was struck that the experience was pretty impressive \u2013 and almost normal. The impressive part: For all the claims…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4455,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[71,135,271],"class_list":["post-4502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-coronavirus","tag-election-2020","tag-the-vote","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nThe vote: almost normal - 9th Street Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Voting in 2020 was pretty routine...except for the pens and the lady in the full protective gear disinfecting the voting booth.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/11\/01\/the-vote-almost-normal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The vote: almost normal - 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