When I moved I did a lot of address changes. I missed one. The Election Board. I thought about it on the Saturday before the election. I called to see what I could do besides go to a judge. No problem, I was told. I could vote in my new precinct for federal offices or I could come to the Election Board offices and vote the entire ballot. That sounded okay until I found out where the Election Board offices were. Voting may be a duty but not at the risk of being mugged.

I went to the polling place for my precinct. I’d settle for voting federal only and be alive to see the results. I had my voter registration card, with my old address, and my driver’s license, with my new address. Some guy, working there, and trying to be helpful, looked at them so he could direct me to the right precinct table. Seems two precincts were sharing the school.

He looked at my card and my license and asked me if I needed directions to Mt. Pleasant. I told him no, I knew where it was since I used to live there. I needed directions to the right table. He said I couldn’t vote in this precinct. I told him I certainly could. He looked at me like I was some troublemaker and passed my registration card and driver’s license on to what I assume is a supervisor.

She looked them both over and asked if I needed directions to Mt. Pleasant. Uh, oh, stupidity was raising it’s ugly head and it was my own fault. Still, I wasn’t going to let that keep me from voting. I told her the same story I told the Bubba guy. She said I’d have to talk to the lady at that table. That had been my plan to start with. These two were just nebby-noses.

Good. Now I had a pro to talk to. Hah! She looked through her records and my name wasn’t there. I told her, “Of course it’s not there. I didn’t change my address. My fault. I still get to vote for federal offices. This isn’t the first time this has happened, I’m sure of that”.

She looked at me like she wanted to say, “Look, whitey, I ain’t takin’ no crap from the likes of ya’ll”.

She didn’t, of course. She said I was in the wrong precinct. I had to go over to that table. I looked over there and decided I’d had enough of this explaining. I went over, handed the guy my registration card and license and just stood there. He looked them over and then asked me, “Sir, what is it you want to do?”

“I want to vote.That's all I can do here. I don’t want to vote in Mt. Pleasant since I don’t live there anymore and my license gives that away. I want to vote for to help elect a President. That’s all I want!”.

Well, the guy probably was thinking that anyone who’d forget to change his address was too stupid to vote. He may have thought it but he went and got me a provisional ballot, explained it to me and then left me alone. I filled it out, filled out the envelope with my information, put the ballot in it and sealed it. I asked him where I was supposed to put it and looked at him hard so he wouldn’t tell something I was in no mood to hear.

He said to put it in the black box. I looked at, I put my ballot in it and then asked him if I was the first person to use that box.

“No, we get people like you all day long, he said.

Wonder what that meant. I also wonder if that black box wasn't a trash can.