Primaries 2010: Early Voting and Senate Endorsement

I had the pleasure this past weekend of voting in my hometown, I mean physically IN town, for the very first time. I've had to vote absentee since I turned 18 and went to college, so actually getting to walk into a polling place and use the touch screens to vote in the Democratic primaries was exciting. Getting the sticker for once was great, too.

I was really happy at the number of people who were voting early in my small hometown. It was the first Saturday of NC One-Stop Voting, and while there was no waiting, there were about 7 people voting when I was, and 4 more were coming in as I left. The woman signing people in said there had been a steady flow all day. Not bad for a county of 37,000.

The candidate I was most excited to vote for, by far, was Elaine Marshall for U.S. Senate. She's currently running in the Democratic primary to replace Richard Burr, who FireDogLake calls "the most endangered sitting Senate Republican" and who is, in my opinion, a terrible representative of NC's interests. He is pro-big business, anti-health reform, anti-choice, anti-immigrant...the list goes on.

As the current NC Secretary of State and former state senator, Elaine Marshall has a reputation for being fair, energetic, and down-to-earth. She has continued to run a strong campaign even after the national Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chose to endorse another candidate, Cal Cunningham, and after losing her husband late last year. She is committed to advocating for the just treatment of all Americans, and is strongly pro-woman and pro-civil rights, leading her to land an endorsement from one of my favorite bloggers and activists, Pam Spaulding at Pam's House Blend. It's exciting to see a North Carolina "purple state" candidate declare her opposition to the Defense of Marriage act and support of the Employee Non-Discrimination Act on her website. Further proof that we're moving in a good direction for civil rights for everyone.

I am adding my name to the long list of people who support Elaine Marshall. Please check out her website and get to know her. And most importantly, please vote! In NC, look here for a One-Stop Voting site, where you can register and vote all at once. Early voting continues through Saturday, May 1st and the primary is on May 4th!