Tuesday June 3, 2008 was New Mexico’s state primary and it is turned out to be a battle to the end. On most levels there are very close, tight races. This year Republican Senator Pete Domenici announced his retirement leaving his seat open and it was a battle for his spot. Republicans Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce battled it out for his seat. Steve Pearce prevailed. He and Democrat Tom Udall will go against each other in the general election come November. Ok, I have a confession to make. I started out NM State Primary Day as a voter virgin. Yes, I have never voted before.
Today really felt like much more of a warm-up until this coming November when we have the general election. It was very different than I imagined it to be. It was over in just the blink of an eye.
I had my voter credentials: Drivers License, Voter Registration Card, Social Security Card, two alternate forms of ID packed into my purse. Hey you can never be too careful right? I didn’t want to get there and be turned away for lack of necessary documents. I packed everything up and began my walk to my voting place. Given that I live in the ‘burbs, my polling place is conveniently located in my community, so I opted to walk. I thought of driving but hey this is no time to be loose with our fuel use. At the polling place I was quickly rushed by individuals campaigning for their candidate hopefuls, their last attempts to sway my vote. I was surprised, because wow it was so hot out and there they were, chasing people down in ninety-something degree weather. I realized that for today, it was sink or swim for half the candidates on the ballot. I stopped for a quick photo-op, to update my “think” picture, and continued on for the first time with the intention to vote. I have been in polling places on voting day but for many reasons did not choose to vote.
Voting was quick and easy. I was a little shocked to learn that I was only the 61stvoter in my precinct for the day. It was more than halfway through the day when I arrived fresh-faced and ready to vote. I walked in and told the people who were there to guide us voters along, that today was my first time voting. One of the ladies cheered me on and said, “Good for you!” and they were all really nice, happy to be there and happy I was there. I was over-prepared and found out that all I needed to have was my driver’s license. But seeing that I walked to and from, I could not afford to be missing something, I felt a bit like a naïve nerd. They showed me what I had to do. I used a pen and bubbled in the circles next to the names of who I wanted to continue on in the election. I was surprised because I thought there would be electric voting machines with curtains and buttons that light up. Instead it was me, a handful of vote volunteers, and a few stations where you fill in the bubble and then scan your paper ballot. That was that, I said my excited “thank you” to the room, and walked out. Voting itself took less than 3 minutes.
Overall, not only was I really excited but now I feel like a seasoned voter ready to hit the polls come November! It felt like a small, unimportant election considering that the nation was watching Montana and South Dakota in the final presidential primary but let's remind ourselves to "think globally, act locally".