FLASH THAT DIRTY FINGER

I had a hard time deciding wether I should go to the precinct this morning or wait after lunch. But excitement won and I took a bath and drove (yes!) myself to the clubhouse. I originally planned to walk but it was too hot. The 10-am sun felt like 12 noon so I had to brave the road.

When I got there, I was totally lost. I did two rounds in the clubhouse and then gave up and went to the voters assistance station. Good decision! She gave me a stub with all my details and gave me instructions. Thank God for PPCRV volunteers who were efficient an nice to all the voters.

Finally I saw my line. While I was at the end of the looong line, I said to myself 'I lined up for 8 hours just to register. This one's gonna be easy.' hahaha

Since this year we're doing the 'clustered precinct' thingy, there were more people at our area. Our basketball court accomodated 4 precincts. It so happened I was part of the more populated precinct, thus the looong line.

An hour and a half in line and less than a hundred people away from the verification table, my college orgmate Jesse arrived. I wasn't able to greet her- I was too tired and haggard haha. Grabe she lined up like 10 minutes lang coz there were very few people in their precinct. KAINGGIT!

Anyway, finally I had my voting sheet then sat on a small table which I shared with an older lady. Grabe napaka galaw niya at napaka daldal. I stepped on the leg of the table to avoid the shaking- hello that might invalidate my vote pa. I gripped my pen tightly coz I was super afraid of making unnecessary marks.

My biggest fear is for my vote to not be counted due to shading errors. For the past two nights I prayed that my ballot will be counted. Imagine my horror when the screen said *WARNING*. The two officers told me to step back while they check my paper. They tried to appease me and said 'Minsan kasi nag ra-random check yan'. I wasn't breathing. One officer counted my shaded ovals, the other officer inserted it for the second time. THEN I SAW IT- CONGRATULATIONS! I gave one huge sigh of relief sabay sabi 'THANKYOUUUU!" hahaha they laughed at me- in a good way.

The indelible ink on my finger looks like nail polish gone wrong. hahaha But it doesn't matter. I'm proud voter!