As a law student, I live in a very insulated world, but I managed to get things in order enough to get myself registered to vote in this here state, and I actually went out to my polling station a few minutes ago and voted.

Crimson City has a simple ballot. No punching or butterflying or any of that crap. You take the ballot into one of several booths covered by a red, white and blue tarp over the top, and it's just you, a black felt pen, and a friendly diagram showing you how to correctly fill in the bubble. (You can request up to three more ballots if you make a mistake.)

Last time I voted, it was in DC, and the line snaked up and down the stairs and out of the doors of the church serving as the polling station for my neighborhood. But today, there was no wait at all. I followed the directions I copied down from Mapquest to the elementary school I didn't know was nearby, went past a couple volunteers doing exit polls, and down the steps to the basement. A nice policeman asked me at the door what my ward and precinct were, and then it was just a matter of showing my voting notice and checking in.

I have to say, I smiled when I saw those red, white and blue cloths over the voting booths. All the recent South Park-Team America anti-vote pretend blase is funny ("It's a choice between a douchebag and a shit sandwich!"), and I can even understand it to a certain extent, but when it comes down to it, it's cool to vote. You go to the centers of the neighborhood, the underpinnings of local American life, and you have your little say in who gets to represent you to the rest of the state, the country, and the world.

I wish I'd volunteered to monitor polls or something in some swing state (preferably somewhere nice and warm and sunny). I do think this is a really important election, and it would have been nice to feel that I'd done something to make it a fair one. Of course, there are so many ways in which it's not fair (besides the incredible charges of voter fraud, there's that whole matter of the electoral college -- why is it that it's possible to get a majority of people to choose you and not win? Why? And why it is that my vote is less important than someone's vote in Iowa or New Mexico? And why are district lines drawn by legislatures, which are political creatures?), you could say that it's a hopeless endeavor. But as Minnie Driver says in Grosse Point Blank, "Ya gotta try. It's your DUTY." And as someone in my hall pointed out, "If I knew everything was done fair and square, and my party didn't win, I'd be okay with it, because I'd know that's what people in this country wanted. That's what a democracy is, people."

Happy voting, all.