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2004-10-13 - 4:45 p.m.
or die
Yesterday, October 12th, was the deadline for registering to vote in Maryland in time to be able to vote in this year's presidential election. So of course, I procrastinated and waited until the last possible minute to register. I've had a voter registration form for about 6 months that I picked up at a Q And Not U show, but I'd been putting off filling it out and mailing it in forever, just letting it sit around. And I knew I was always planning to register, I just have a horrible procrastination problem. Every time it came up in conversation, if someone asked me if I was already registered, I'd lie and say yes, because I knew I was going to and didn't want to get a lecture. In 2000 I turned 18 and got to vote in my first election, and since I had just started college here in MD and was still registered in Delaware, I actually drove back home just to vote. And my school doesn't even give a day off on election day, which is bullshit. But I still needed to register in Maryland this time. So when the deadline this year got closer and closer, I decided instead of mailing it in, I'd take it straight to the Baltimore County board of elections. The address listed on my form happened to be five minutes away from the Towson campus, so I figured it would be best to just drop it off there in person. So of course, something had to go wrong. I found the office building where the board of elections was supposed to be, but someone there told me that it had moved to Catonsville and that address was out of date. So that was some bullshit. And since it was already past 4pm, I didn't have time to go find the real one. So I went to the post office down the street and the guy there told me that registrations postmarked that day would be accepted in time for the election. So hopefully he's right and everything will work out. I feel so guilty about it, though. I'll definitely make sure to call the board of elections if it gets close to the date and they haven't mailed me my registration yet. I know how important this election is, I know how important it is that my generation turns out in record numbers. But Maryland's not a swing state and that does make me feel a little less urgent about the importance of my own vote. I really just think the electoral college is such a scam. But I'm glad I got my registration in on time. On election night Mat and Emily are having people over for dinner to watch the news coverage and hope for the best. -al
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