by Primo Encarnación Chip Collis

In my many election seasons, I’ve seen a few polling places. I’m sure you all have, too.  But as I was just catching a glimpse of MSNBC, I saw another one.  It looked like a conference room, perhaps in a hotel, or conference center.  There was a certain sameness to it that reminded me of all the different ones I’ve seen: mostly empty, a line of tables to sign in, the booths, as far from the tables and everything else as they could be.  It’s a comforting similarity.

But even more comforting are the differences. Add this conference room to the class room, the gymnasium, and the foyer of the middle school, or cafeteria of the high school.  I’ve seen church halls and church basements; fire stations and police stations; senior homes and private homes; Elks Clubs, VFW Halls, KofC bars, Masonic Temples and the Loyal Order of Moose!; the library, the park district building, the City Hall, the County Courthouse; the junior college and the university – and just plain wherever an odd corner could be found, and people could gather.

Every single space could be found in every conceivable shape that architecture could dream, and engineering could design, and The Common Men and Women could build. And that They could also staff, because just regular folks all adapted all these different places to a common goal: political freedom, in the service of our country, and each other.

And that, my friends, is the Hope of Politics.

So vote! Today and tomorrow and each and every time it’s offered.  Because, for once, for truly:

Freedom.