Primary Day 2010

Outside my precinct voting station before closing.

Orlando Diary

Woke up at 6am this morning, then spent the next hour puttering about the house, getting things straightened out, before heading over to my local precinct to vote and then to work.

I voted this morning; the picture to the right was shot in the evening on the way home from work. Turnout in the morning and in the evening looked to be pretty light. I faced more traffic from students heading to UCF than voters to polling stations.

Biggest pleasure of the day was finding out that Kendrick Meek beat billionaire Jeff Greene for the Democratic Senate nomination. Meek will face off in November against Tea Party favorite Marco Rubio and current Florida Governor and independent candidate Charlie Christ. Christ is currently in the lead according to the polls.

The contest between Meek and Greene was particularly raucous, with both trading harsh insults and barbs. It was Greene, however, who drew first blood. Greene entered the primary at the very last minute, and then used his fortune to flood the area with TV ads that attacked Meek, calling him corrupt and unfit. That's just another example of the pot calling the kettle black. Yes, I'm cynical and jaded at this point, but I wasn't about to reward Greene with the nomination and the idea that any billionaire can just walk in and buy his way into public office. Or at least not as blatantly as Greene tried to do.

An interesting political fact: the voting precincts in my part of Orange county were held in churches. Up until 2008 they were held in local schools, but I guess the Orange County School System felt its schools were the wrong place to practice the fundamental democratic right to vote. After all, think of the proper example you want to set for your children. Besides, whatever happened to the separation of church and state?

My precinct (111) voting location was Christ Community Church, while just a mile north on South Apopka Vineland Road, St. Lukes United Methodist was the location for precinct 125. I guess only Protestant churches can host precinct voting stations; Palm Lake Elementary, on Dr. Phillips, where precinct 111 used to vote, is right across the street from St. Judes Catholic church, while Holy Family Catholic church sits right next door to St. Lukes. Funny old world, isn't it?

Equipment Used
Olympus E-P2 with Zuiko Digital 40-150mm and Olympus MMF-1 adapter