Election Day by Jonathan Grass

It's Election Day, and the polls have been open for four hours now at the Student Recreation Center at the University of Alabama. This is a day many people here have been anticipating for months and even years.

The expectations are abuzz as many students and nonstudents file in and out of the booths trading completed ballots for "I Voted" stickers. An average of 30 people are standing in three lines to cast their votes at any given time. They file in and out of seven voting booths. Nine volunteers maintain the lines.

Despite the numbers, the lobby is quiet as students pay strict attention to the task at hand. This is quite atypical for a building where young people go to play and exercise.

A representative of the Democratic Party of Alabama distributes handouts with ample ballots to people entering the building and a surveyor for student political opinions awaits nearby to question random voters on their way out.