Scenes From A Poll: Beacon Hill
Location:
The Massachusetts State House
Time:
3pm
How sweet it is to vote on Beacon Hill. Sure – the State House is
the only polling place I know of (and please correct me if I'm wrong)
where you have to pass through a metal detector, but I have to say,
it's kind of worth it. First of all, there's plenty of green space
for chilling outside beforehand, and for contemplating your choices
with a breathtaking view of Boston Harbor. And when you're good and
ready to perform your civic duty, there's a gentlemanly team of
rangers to help you through the line.
Workers on the scene tell me that the longest anyone has waited at
the State House station – between 7am and 11am today – was
roughly 25 minutes. Otherwise it's been smooth sailing, and by 3pm
this afternoon they'd registered nearly 800 votes without much of a
fuss. John Kerry votes here, for what it's worth, as do a number of
other millionaires and power brokers. And while I do not begrudge
their convenience, it's still important to consider the difference
between this voter utopia and what's happening elsewhere in the city.