Secret Ballot

The Saskatoon civic election snuck up on me.  When I first learned of it, I thought I'd have so much time to size up the candidates.  I knew already, from speaking to him on my front stoop, who I was voting in Ward 5, where I currently reside.  I even went so far as to get a sign for my front yard.  His opponent, came to my doorstep, but never rang the door bell.  Obviously discouraged by the sign posted on my lawn, he instead through his literature down on the ground, trapped between my house and the shrubs.  What a prick!  Instead of trying to sway my vote, he'd rather act like a spoiled bitch.

As for mayor, well, I've not been happy with the guy we've had for the last (I don't know how many) years.  He's an arrogant asshole, as far as I'm concerned.  With every good fortune that has come to Saskatoon, he's patting himself on the back for "making it happen", despite all those who (behind the scenes) are the real heroes for making things happen.  For putting Saskatoon back on the map and making it a desirable destination to raise a family.

So I went to the school gymnasium down the street, registered to vote by showing my I.D. and coloured in the little black oval as instructed.  Instead of having cheap little cards that get folded over thrice after placing your X, they're now complicated sheets that get placed through a computer onsite.  The instructions for placing my ballot into the envelope was unclear, and like so many before me, I placed it upside down.  The gentleman at the reception table where the ballots were being entered, explained my mistake to me.  

"You place this in like so," he said, demonstrating that the blank side needs to be face-up, "This way, I can't see who you're voting for."

I chuckled and admitted that by having a sign showing my support for my candidate has revealed my vote to everyone who drove by my house for the past three weeks, so it didn't matter who saw my vote.