Bright and very early - before 6:30 AM - on Tuesday morning, I headed out of the front door for the very short trek right across the street and up the 3 steps into "The Church of Our Lady of All Who Sorrow Outside of Russia" Russian Orthodox Church, the polling place for Philadelphia Election District 15, Ward 17. I was all set to serve my third stint as a poll worker, this time for the Mayoral, Judicial and City Council Primaries. I was joined by neighbors Ernie, Pat, Joan and Cheryl and two voting machines. For the third time it was also raining on Election Day, and the newspaper headline below says it all.
Of the over 500 registered voters in our ward, only 162 turned out to vote. Except for a flurry of activity between 7-8 AM and another between 6-8 PM, the day was marked by long periods of extreme downtime. In a world where so many are fighting for the mere right to be able to vote in free elections, it was actually quite discouraging to see such voter apathy. Our polling places in Philadelphia are so convenient, too, and it is never necessary to walk more than a block or two to vote. People simply have no excuse!
Of the over 500 registered voters in our ward, only 162 turned out to vote. Except for a flurry of activity between 7-8 AM and another between 6-8 PM, the day was marked by long periods of extreme downtime. In a world where so many are fighting for the mere right to be able to vote in free elections, it was actually quite discouraging to see such voter apathy. Our polling places in Philadelphia are so convenient, too, and it is never necessary to walk more than a block or two to vote. People simply have no excuse!
The results of the City Council primary races.
Incumbent Mayor Nutter easily defeated his Democratic opponent, Milton Street, who has served time in prison for fraud and doesn't even live in the city, although he does own some kind of property here, they say!There were two Republicans vying for the right to run for Mayor in November, but those candidates have a snowball's chance in h--l in this overwhelmingly Democratic city.
Because our polling location is the Fellowship Hall of "The Church of Our Lady..." and because there is now a small convent of three 60-70 year old nuns living above the church, we had the pleasure of listening to Fr. Andrew lead two masses during the course of the day that included lots of bells, chanting, incense, and rather lovely singing. When we asked about the first one , Fr. Andrew replied, in the quote of the day, "Oh, that is just something I do every day with the girls."!!
Ha, Ha, Ha!
No comments:
Post a Comment