Chapter 71 72

Chapter 71: Election Day

November 8th, Tuesday, Virginia.

"Don't worry too much, it's still early. I'll bring you guys some food at noon."

"You'll probably be busy today. Relax, it's just a big party to attend."

Kirk Stone stood on his own porch, affectionately kissed his wife, Elaine, then with steaming coffee in hand, tightened his jacket and ventured into the darkness.

At this hour, it was still before dawn, the sky pitch black. It was the coldest time of the morning, undoubtedly below freezing. Without needing a thermometer, one could tell the temperature was well below zero. Along the way, car windows and roofs were frosted over, and even the dim yellow glow of the street lamps seemed dimmer due to the cold.

Luckily, Kirk had foreseen this, wearing a thick sweater over his undershirt. It did the trick. Kirk tightened his neck, rubbed his hands together, trying to draw warmth from the hot coffee he carried. Finally, with some movement, he felt slightly warmer.

It was only a ten-minute walk from home to the polling station. He couldn't be bothered to drive, using the opportunity to stretch his legs and clear his mind.

Upon reaching the polling station, precisely at six o'clock, the sky was slightly brighter. He could already make out the long queue of voters at the entrance, winding around the rectangular Bensley Church, quite a significant number of people.

Hey! Quite early!

"Morning, Kirk."

"Hello, Maphis. Rushing to work?"

"Yes, it's freezing! Dragging myself out of bed so early!"

"Tell me about it. This darn weather. Below freezing in just November."

"Excuse me! Let me through! Thanks."

Kirk took a sip of his hot coffee. Warmth flowed from his throat to his heart. He greeted acquaintances while squeezing through the crowd, entering the polling station. What a lively big party. Similar scenes must be happening all over the country at the same time, he thought to himself.

Every four years, on the first Tuesday of November in the presidential election year, over a hundred million American voters go to designated places to vote. Choosing between the two presidential candidates of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, this day is called National Voter Registration Day, also known as Election Day or General Election Day.

Kirk Stone was the precinct captain for the Republican Party team at the Bensley Church polling station, sort of fancy sounding, but he still reported to his superior, area chair Grigor. He and most of the volunteers arrived earlier, already waiting inside.

"Hurry up, Kirk, you're late. Hey! Hey!"

Grigor glanced at Kirk, motioning for him to hurry over. Then he clapped his hands to get the volunteers' attention, beginning to organize the duty roster for the Bensley Church polling station. Voting hours on Election Day start from 6 am to 7 pm. They must ensure that there are at least three people at the polling station every hour, then change shifts every one to two hours.

"We're definitely winning this year!"

Kirk's old buddy, Pickle Oliver, leaned over, bumping his shoulder, then winked, looking very excited. Like Kirk, Pickle was a supporter of the Republican Party. He had participated in the earliest election in 2008, but unfortunately, it had been the Democratic Party's Obama elected since then.

According to the party's internal news, Jeb Bush's approval rating was slightly higher than Sheila's this year, although not entirely secure. But supporters of the Republican Party had already started preparing to celebrate early, hence Pickle Oliver's excitement.

However, Kirk wasn't as enthusiastic as him, just smiling along. Truth be told, he didn't care much about who got elected. Of course, it's impossible to not be a bit excited, but more so because he was involved in the election process. However, deep down, Kirk always felt that the outcome of this election didn't have much to do with him. What difference would it make whoever got elected? Life would still go on the same.

Although since his father's generation, the Stone family had been supporters of the Republican Party.

What Kirk looked forward to the most was, after this long day, they would have a big, genuine party, where all these longtime collaborators could raise their glasses and celebrate—regardless of the outcome.

After the tight and tedious arrangements, they each carried a bunch of sample ballots and walked out of the polling station. As part of the campaign team, Kirk and Pickle, among others, mainly focused on promoting and canvassing for votes. They couldn't just hide inside the polling station after arriving to enjoy the warmth.

The so-called sample ballot was not a replica of the actual ballot. It was essentially a promotional material.

Taking Kirk's Republican Party sample ballot as an example, the front printed the names of all the candidates in this election—including the candidates from the five parties participating in the presidential election, the Democrats, Republicans, and even the Constitution Party, Libertarian Party, and Green Party. Of course, the candidates from the last three parties were more like extras, not even worth mentioning against Sheila and Jeb Bush's opponents.

Below were the candidates for the state's congressional elections and the county's legislative and educational committees. But behind all the Republican Party candidates, a checkmark had been made, indicating a suggestion for everyone to vote for these people.

This was the unique "electoral college" system of the United States—according to this system, over a hundred million voters on Election Day were not voting directly for the president but for the Electoral College electors representing their state. Before voting, they already knew which presidential candidate their selected Electoral College electors would vote for.

The actual presidential election would take place on the third Monday of December (this term was on December 12th). At that time, the "Electoral College" members elected by each state and the District of Columbia would go to their respective state capitals to vote. The candidate who received more than half of the Electoral College electors' votes would be elected president and sworn in on January 20th of the following year.

The Electoral College consisted of a total of 538 members, representing the senators (100), representatives (435), and three from the District of Columbia. As the number of representatives was allocated by population, states like California had as many as 55 electors, while sparsely populated areas like Alaska and the District of Columbia had only three.

In other words, what the people were voting for today was just the new congressmen who aligned with their preferences. But at the same time, they were enough to decide the next president, as hardly any congressman would change their support for the presidential candidates after being elected.

Chapter 72: Dream

Kirk Stone walked straight to the end of the line, standing on the side, distributing sample ballots to the new voters, continuously cheering them on, urging them to support the Republican Party. At the same time, he glanced at Pickle Oliver on his right. This small, somewhat disheveled guy was tightening his neck, stiffening his hands, and continuously stamping his feet.

"Hey! Didn't you check the weather forecast? You're out here in so little clothing."

Kirk said with a somewhat smug smile.

"I thought I was dressed warmly enough. Didn't expect it to be this cold in the morning." Pickle grumbled, shaking his body. He looked at the coffee in the hands of Kirk and others with a hint of envy. "If someone sold coffee here, I wonder how much they would make."

"Forget it, my coffee's already cold. Besides, who doesn't know they don't allow selling coffee at the polling station."

Kirk shook his head. Since the polling station was close to home, many people, like him, brought their own hot coffee and joined the line. He remembered that back in '08, the church used to sell coffee at the polling station and made a good profit, but it was no longer allowed.

Distributing materials was naturally very boring, and Pickle was too cold to talk. After a while, Kirk couldn't bear the loneliness and looked around for opportunities to chat. Although this area had always been dominated by the Republican Party, directly asking people who they were voting for was futile. An old lady walking her dog directly glared at Kirk, "My vote is confidential! Confidential!"

Kirk smiled awkwardly. Although he was talkative, he didn't want to mess with these formidable old ladies. Their democratic consciousness was much stronger than his.

Others seemed equally unenthusiastic. Probably because they had just woken up and were rushing to work. Fortunately, more and more campaign volunteers were arriving. Walking back and forth in the line, Kirk greeted them, chatting casually about trivial topics, and time passed by quickly.

Around noon, Kirk saw a Democratic Party volunteer and suddenly became interested, taking the initiative to strike up a conversation. The assignment of party campaign personnel was also quite particular. Strong areas for each party must be manned by their main forces to ensure no mishaps. In weaker or even insignificant areas, usually only one or two volunteers were sent. In Kirk's view, the guy in front of him named Palermo was obviously just there to make up the numbers.

"Have you seen the referendum on the Virginia Constitution amendment on the ballot this time? About the eminent domain issue. The Republican Party advocates voting in favor, while the Democratic Party advocates voting against."

Kirk opened the conversation.

"It's obviously a good thing for everyone, but it's turned into a party fight? Boring. Just so you know, I'm not with the Democratic Party. I'm completely uninterested in party politics. I'm just an independent voter."

This young man Palermo with light brown curly hair muttered a few words and handed out the materials to the people in front of him. Clearly, he had a sample ballot that leaned towards Democratic Party candidates.

"Come on, buddy. Everyone knows this area supports Jeb. Anyway, you're doing your best."

Kirk heard what he said, though he felt amused inside, he didn't show it. He clearly thought Palermo was just embarrassed to admit he was sent by the Democratic Party campaign side to just go through the motions. He gave a knowing look and then patted his shoulder with a friendly smile.

"Is that what you think?" Palermo was stunned for a moment, his expression looking very surprised, then he pointed to several diligent female volunteers on the other side. "Why do I see several Democratic Party volunteers over there? They seem very optimistic?"

"What? Don't joke around, buddy." Kirk laughed heartily, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world. He was born and raised here in Blackcastle Town and was very familiar with it. Most of the people around him always supported the Republican Party. Would the Democratic Party waste their efforts coming here to canvass votes? That would be a problem with their brains, and they deserved to lose to little Bush.

But when he turned his head and saw those female volunteers, he realized they were all very unfamiliar, and it seemed they weren't part of the team. The smile on his face gradually froze. Although he was still unclear about the situation, Kirk already felt a different atmosphere compared to the previous two elections.

He gathered up the remaining sample ballots in his hand and hurriedly ran to the entrance of the polling station to look inside. Ten punch card machines were busy working nervously. Finally, Kirk saw a familiar face and hurriedly stopped her, asking, "Sasha, have you voted? Did you vote for Jeb?"

Sasha was Elaine's colleague, and they got along very well usually, so there was no need to be restrained. The woman with a few freckles on her face was a bit puzzled when she was stopped. She smiled after seeing it was him, "Hi! You scared me, Kirk. What are you so excited about? I thought you didn't care much about this. Fleming is just a piece of crap, I wouldn't vote for him as a congressman. So, I voted for Sheila instead. Having a female president wouldn't be bad, right?"

There was a buzzing sound in Kirk's mind, and something seemed to have snapped. Although he hadn't paid much attention, he knew that she had clearly stated her support for Jeb Bush at a gathering not long ago. Since she voted for the Republican Party congressman, Fleming, shouldn't that be the normal response?

Why the change?

Isn't it supposed to be a foregone conclusion here?

Blackcastle Town is the Republican Party's territory!

Kirk stood in place, his mind in chaos. When he came back to his senses and wanted to ask Sasha again, the woman had already walked away in a hurry.

But there was no need to waste any more effort because he saw the district chairman Grigor and Pickle standing not far away. The mixed expressions of confusion and frustration on their faces were something Kirk Stone had never seen before, and the punch card machines next to them were gaping black holes, seemingly mocking silently.

"Whoosh!"

The cold wind blew, and a few sample ballots fluttered like butterflies in the air. The bright red words on them kept flashing, exceptionally dazzling. It said on the sample ballot for the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, Sheila:

"Believe in the American Dream!"