Voting Day



Balloons Over Albuquerque

I always like to take advantage of the opportunity to vote early, meaning before the  actual day of the elections. If I don't, on election day everyone and everything seem to conspire to keep me away from the voting center until it is too late. Few things are more upsetting than discovering that election day ended and you did not get to cast your ballot.
Today, October 4, 2011, as the International Balloon Fiesta continues, it is municipal election day in Albuquerque. I did not get to vote early so I gave priority to getting to the voting center as soon as possible after 7:00 AM when the polls opened. I was impressed at the steady stream of people entering and leaving the Ventana Ranch Elementary School to participate in the type of election that traditionally has a low turnout.
In this election, all voters get to vote on bond issues, gross receipts tax  revenues and a referendum on the Traffic Light Camera Program while residents in even-numbered districts also get to choose their city councilor. Every issue is important.

Based on my observation, either the importance of the issues or the newly established Consolidated Voting Centers that allow residents to vote anywhere in the city must be influencing voter turnout. If what I observed has any validity, turnout will be significantly higher than in the last municipal elections.
Eloise Gift
Gift Realty NM