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Democracy in action
By adamg on Tue, 05/03/2005 - 9:14am
It's election day in Brookline today; here are some campaign volunteers and voters outside the Putterham branch of the Public Library of Brookline this morning. That round sign is the marker beyond which campaigners are not supposed to pass (UPDATE: the polling place is to the people's left; it only looks like they're past the sign because of the angle from which I shot the photo).
One thing I still don't get, even after having covered small towns around here for 12 years, is why Massachusetts towns continue to hold municipal elections on various random days in the spring, instead of on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Or is it just basic New England "we've always done it that way" cussedness?
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Comments
that sign
Do you happen to have a close-up photo of the sign? It looks like it's handwritten and has a lot of words on it.
It's your basic Brookline municipal sign
Brookline sure does have a thing for raised-black-on-silver signs (then again, it does go so nicely with the Brookline street signs, which are, um, raised black on silver):
Election schedule
I've been campaigning on behalf of my chosen candidates in front of the Senior Center today (precinct 9). My wife and I were the first two people to vote this morning.
As for why the town elections are in the spring, well, Brookline's Town Meeting is in May. At that meeting, we vote the budget for the new fiscal year. So it makes a lot of sense for elections to be held a few weeks beforehand. If we wanted to change the election schedule, we'd have to change the fiscal calendar as well.
Line Goes Which Way?
So where is that line? To the left or right of the sign? Behind it or in front of it? I'm not entirely clear.
Then again, it looks like these folks aren't either.
I have seen lots of blatent disregard for those limits on where you can stand - does anyone EVER enforce that, anywhere?
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From the brains behind http://www.bigdumptruck.com
this way
Looks to me like the people left of the sign are campaigning, while the people to the right are ordinary voters, talking to the campaigners.
Enforcing the line
People do enforce it. Just this morning, as I was campaigning for other candidates in Precinct 9, Town Clerk Pat Ward showed up. He said that the sign had been placed too close to the poll entrance, and he moved it a few feet down the block. All of us passing out literature had to move with the sign.
Pat also removed a bunch of campaign posters that had been placed too close to the poll entrance as well.
The line forms to the right, ma'am!
Those folks were actually just milling about as I got 15 seconds to take a couple of shots thanks to your basic morning jamup at the Putterham rotary (where you'll find a gift shoppe called the Roundabout). The actual entrance to the polling place was to their left, your right (well, assuming you were in the car with me at the time, which I'm thinking you weren't, but excuse me, I'm going on no sleep so I just don't remember).
Here's a photo of an actual line at that library, taken last November. Today's subjects were to the right of the entrance in that photo (well, assuming you were coming OUT the door, if you were in the car with me again, and hey, is that seat comfy, or what, they'd be on the left of the door).
And here's a photo of the actual door at the actual entrance to the library. Are you getting the feeling I get stuck in front of the place a lot?
It Has a Gift Shop?
Your rotary has a gift shop?
And dude, if I was in the car with you, you'd notice.
So where should they have been standing? In front of the sign? Because if I read what you wrote correctly (and really, why aren't you sleeping again?) the poll would be to the right of the sign as you're looking at it. So the people on the left are okay?
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From the brains behind http://www.bigdumptruck.com
But the Mazda goes "Hmmmm"
Yep, that rotary not only has the Roundabout but the finest Chinese restaurant in all of South Brookline (OK, the *only* Chinese restaurant in all of South Brookline).
Sorry for the confusion. Looking at that photo as if you were in the car: People to the left of the sign are OK, in terms of politicking. People to its right are making a BIG MISTAKE, if they're campaigning, that is. If they're just kibbitzing, that's OK (they look like ordinary folks, not campaigners, but what do I know? And I didn't stop to ask).
Oh ...
And when I took the shot, I was basically to the right of those folks, so they may very well all be on the right side of the sign. To be honest, I didn't take the photo because I thought there was any electioneering hanky-panky (apologies if I made it seem like I did); I just thought the person with the flag was kind of striking - especially at 8 a.m.