Precinct #4.

City Hall, 7:30AM. Hamtramck,
MI. February 22, 2005.

I vote at City Hall and stopped by the polls on my way into The Citizen at about 7:30AM.

Two workers were diligently clearing the path. Many sidewalks were cleared around City Hall, and all of them slick as the dickens. The sun appeared to be emerging; hopefully a warming trend will make it easier on folks voting later in the day.

There wasn't a line upstairs in the Council Chambers at the actual polls. A glance at the register indicated that five or six voters had already cast ballots.

The six poll workers, captained by the always vivacious Iris Peters, were in fine spirits, as they are every election day.

Democracy brings out the best in neighbors, when it comes down to the actual casting-the-ballot part, anyway. All the tension is finally gone. Sort of like an 80s nuclear holocaust movie; once the horrible and irrevocable series of geo-political events has sent the missiles out of their silos, the most satisfying part of the drama is over and done with.

But I digress.