Rockin' the vote, TrussVegas-style.

This is how we rocked the vote in Trussville, Ala.

5 p.m.

My parents voted early in the day, around 11 a.m., and it took them about an hour to move through the line and cast their ballots. When I arrived home in Trussville around 3 p.m., Mom kept trying to shoo me out of the house to beat the 5 o’clock rush, and Dad called to tell me go to the bathroom before I went.

I neared my poll, located on the rather busy Highway 11, and was met with traffic control. Police cruisers lined the road, lights flashing, and two police officers directed traffic, letting drivers turn left out of the parking lot. A traffic sign advertised voter parking in the lot next to the municipal buildings.

At exactly 5 p.m., I pulled up to Trussville City Hall, voting precinct #4401 and got in the A-D line, the longest line there. Apparently, every Smith in the city voted before work, because the S-Z line was virtually empty. The other lines were E-K and L-R.

Ahead of me in line was Ryan Black, a returning voter. Black’s time estimate was much more hopeful than my parents’. “Thirty minutes total, in and out,” about the same as last presidential election, he said. Black said he thinks Barack Obama might win.

Even though it was the heaviest line, A-D moved long quickly. Black’s estimate wasn’t conservative enough: I completed my civic duty in a little more than 20 minutes. At 5:38, the lines had died down to a couple handfuls of people in each line. The line volunteers and legal representatives milled about with not much to do.

The demographic makeup of the evening voters had a good mix of young, middle-aged and older voters, though the majority were white, with a few blacks and few to no Hispanics or Asians.

Fresh off of bubbling in her ballot, Rebecca Tubbs gave me her impression of today’s election process. Tubbs said she figures Trussville, and the entire state of Alabama, will choose John McCain as our next president. “It may be close,” she said, “but I still say McCain, because we’re one of the southern states,” which are traditionally vote Republican.

When asked about businesses’ voting promotions, such as free coffee at Starbucks and a free doughnut at Krispy Kreme, she said she wouldn’t mind a delicious freebie, but that’s not what voting is about.

“I’m indifferent to them, because you shouldn’t be rewarded for having free choice,” Tubbs said. “Whether you choose to partake in the voting is your own choice,” and incentives shouldn’t motivate you.”

What would your reaction be tomorrow if your candidate didn’t win?

“I won’t be broken-hearted,” she said, “but at least my voice was heard and my voted counted, and I will try my hardest to support who won, because that’s our duty. Whether or not we agree with him, we voted for him as a group, therefore we have to support the majority’s decision, whether or not it’s the best direction for the country.”

6 p.m.

At 6 p.m., what was left of the post-work rush had dissipated. Guess it was all right that I decided not to bring a book while I waited.

On the way back to my car, I decided to pay the folks at the LifeSouth Blood Mobile parked next door. I asked Tiffany Rowe how many voters rocked the party bus for Election Day.

At 26 to 27 visits already, “donations have been great,” she said. With an hour to poll closing time, Rowe said she expected a total of about 30 donations – pretty good numbers compared to high school blood drives, which attract about 150 to 200 donors, she said.

And what are Rowe’s political projections?

“I really think Obama’s going to take it,” she said. With such a diverse group of supporters, she said, “it’s going to be very, very close either way.”