Democracy in Action

The Police Showed Up!
Originally uploaded by prettylittlemess.

I went to the Precinct Convention to Caucus for Hillary Clinton last night after the Primary.

The building we were at was holding 8 different Precinct Conventions. There was just not enough space. Also, we couldn’t begin the process until the last person voted. That line was on the other side of the building, so I don’t know how long it was. All I know is that I, the Precinct Secretary, didn’t mark the convention in order until 9 p.m. when we were all huddled around a table outside.

Oh, and yeah, the police showed up. Perhaps because people were parking in the adjoining cemetery and highway?

I took pictures of the whole thing. They are located here. I saw both of Melanie’s parents and a friend from high school.

My Precinct had 14 delegates for the county convention. 9 went to Obama and 5 went to Hillary. I am a delegate for Hillary for the county convention on March 29. There is a rumor though that only precinct chairs will carry all votes to the county convention and not individuals. We’ll see.

Two points I’d like to make for hopefully a smoother precinct convention next time there is an exciting primary:

1. Make the sign in forms STANDARDIZE. There were three different forms for signing in, which is the first step in the Precinct Convention process. It’s were you get all the vital information on everyone. If the forms all are different it makes later tabulations more difficult.
2. Remain calm. I did. But there was a woman who didn’t when some precincts were meeting in parts of the church they couldn’t. She needed to calm down. This is America, and this is a really unique process we get to go through. Do not yell at 200 people in a crowded church hallway. We didn’t KNOW we were doing anything wrong. Also, don’t freak out if you are wearing a name tag and your home phone number and e-mail came be easily found with a quick Google search. I’m not going to complain about her, but I know others in the precincts were. Not a smart move.

It was very exciting to see that many people voting. It was an exciting process that regardless of the crowds, chaos, and lack of space gave me hope that I might one day be able to do something with my government degree.