Vote!

It's hard to believe that the election is almost here. Discounting the sleeping I'm about to do, it is here! I'm voting in person for the first time - having voted absentee during the start of my democratic participatory career - and I'm really excited. I'm excited to push the buttons or pull the levers or whatever it is you do inside a voting booth. What I'm moderately less excited for are the lines (though still somewhat excited because they mean that people are voting - take that apathy)...

I don't have much to say about this (particularly that I would feel comfortable publishing on a blog for a publicly funded medical school), so I will simply say this:

Vote! Vote like your life depends on it!

Remember that you are allowed to bring whatever you want with you to the polls, as long as there is no campaign material visible. This means it's perfectly legal to print out a ballot, mark all of your preferences and notes, and carry it in your pocket to the polls. If you have a button, t-shirt, etc with a candidate's name on it, you can still vote, you just have to cover the item when you get within 100 ft of the polling place.

And if you aren't sure where to go, what to do, or who to vote for, check out:

Mlive.com: Get your whole ballot and use their nifty side-by-side comparison to see what the candidates said and what their background is: http://thevoterguide11.mlive.com/?sfr

League of Women Voters: They also collect information about the candidates and line it up so you can compare their views on different questions: http://www.vote411.org/onyourballot/state.php

Still have questions? Visit www.publius.gov to print out a ballot, find your polling place, and find contact information for local officials.