Election Day
Election Day

Election Day

Election Day - Vintage Ballot Box - Dot, WA

November 6, 2012 is Election Day in the United States of America. We are electing a President to lead our country for the next four years.

Most likely by this time tomorrow (or perhaps even later in the evening tonight) we will know if Obama or Romney will be President. In our state of Washington, there are many state and local offices and issues being decided upon as well. I’ve already cast my ballot by mail.

This is the eleventh presidential election I’ve been able to participate in. I remember when I turned 21 in 1971, the first thing I did was go to city hall and register to vote. I have always felt it is my responsibility as a citizen to be informed and cast my vote in all elections, national and otherwise.

This wooden box is almost a time capsule, a vintage ballot box from Dot in Klickitat County. It really is a dot, a wide spot in the road, where an old one room school stands in a rocky field and across the dirt road was the White Creek Grange (the former Dot Community Church) also a one room building. Sitting on the floor of the Grange was this wooden box about 15 inches square, with a slot in the top covered by the top of an old metal coffee can. The box also had a hasp closure to be padlocked. The lower image is of the inside of the lid of the ballot box, which says (written in pencil) ‘Leave Box at Polling Place.’ The Grange hasn’t been in use for more than 35 years, sometime in the early 1970s. So this ballot box has sat waiting to receive voters ballots that will come no more. Hasn’t technology moved quickly away from this? Amazing isn’t it?

(A couple blogger friends have asked if I own the vintage ballot box pictured in my post, alas no, I don’t. The old grange building was not locked and I went inside to look and took some photos. The last time I saw the box it was sitting in the same place I looked at it. I must confess, I was really ‘wanting’ the box (does covet fit here?), but it would have been stealing to take it even though the place appeared to be abandoned. I couldn’t do that…)

What about you, have you voted today?

Sharing with ‘Tuesday Around the World.’

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16 Comments

  1. MadSnapper

    what a find this is, i starting voting in 1962 when i turned 18, but can’t remember the first time i voted for president. will have to look it up. we voted last tuesdays, our county had more than 50,000 early votes, a record for our county

  2. I haven’t voted yet, but I will this afternoon. Since I no longer have a “job,” I like to go in person to vote, rather than that by mail or even early (as you can do in Texas). I like the feeling of taking part in the process on “the” day!

    Love this old box. No hanging chads in there!

  3. Oh wow! Is this box yours? What a treasure and piece of history…love it! Went out to vote at 6:30 AM. I so wanted to be there first at 6 but the body said otherwise. But…I’m liking this time change a lot…I actually get up when the alarm goes off instead of hitting the snooze over and over. This will be an exciting evening in front of the TV and a late night if the voting is close.

  4. Your post is like a piece of history- well it actually is history. I hope that you are the owner of the box. It would be wondeful to own that box. What a great conversation piece. I enjoyed reading your post today. Oh, and the pics are very nice too!

  5. Pingback: White Creek Grange | The View From Right Here

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