macteacher

Hi all,

Across the province of Ontario today citizens will be out in numbers to cast their ballot and be part of the democratic process. It is my hope that many will choose to ride their bicycle to travel to the destination point to cast that all important election ballot. The secret ballot and the right for people to choose their leaders is one of the corner stones of western society. Make your voice count and cast that ballot today...and, do it by bike

I rode my bicycle to the near by school to cast my ballot, and (sadly) since there were no bicycle racks I walked my bike right into the school and many who were there couldn't help but look at my Pashley and comment on how beautiful she was. It is always a nice feeling to receive comments on our bikes. I even received compliments by the crossing guards and from people at the local bank branch too

See my pics here

Dchiefransom

I walk. I'd be worried about people sitting on it locked to a rack.

genec

Have done it all... biked, walked and have driven... this year I am mailing in my vote... for the first time.

ghettocruiser

It's seriously 500 feet from my door.

I'm just gonna walk.

macteacher

Mail in your vote??? well...that's a new one. The only way to cast a ballot here is to actually go to the booth No mailing in as far as I know. But good for you for going out.


Dchiefransom

genec

Here we have absentee ballots... if you are going to be out of town on election day, you apply for an absentee ballot before voting day and they return you a ballot that you mark and send in... these are usually counted after the regular ballots are tallied.

Turns out more and more people are just voting absentee on a regular basis. I rather like the idea of going to the polling place and ceremoniously going through the motions. I bring my voting material all ready marked up, so the time in the booth is pretty minimal, but the formality of actually going feels so dutiful.

As long as we are talking dutiful. In Australia I believe you can be fined for not voting. Your vote is still your choice, but you have to vote.

fholt

I have voted on my commute home, my precinct polling place is just around the corner. The last time I was in lycra and a hi-viz jersey, but had I ridden home to shower and change, I would have been too late. It may bother others (to see my lardass in a pr of bike shorts), but it certainly doesn't bother me.

illdoittomorrow

macteacher,

Calgary has mail-in absentee ballots as well- they've been reinstated after there was a fraud scandal a few years ago

I picked one up because I had anticipated being out of town, but I got back early. I just filled it out and hand-delivered it (by bike) the the city's election office.

nelson249

Rode the Mongoose over to the Rec complex to vote first thing this morning. Then rode to work.

prathmann

I volunteered for a while as a poll worker and used my bike to pick up the ballots, voting machines, and misc. materials and then to deliver them to the polling place on election day. But there's a rule about always having two workers with the ballots once they've been cast and sealed into the box. Unfortunately I wasn't able to convince any of the others to accompany me on a tandem so I had to load the election materials plus my Bike Friday and its trailer into the trunk of one of their cars for delivery to the county collection point at the end of the day.

But this year I'll be out of town on election day so I'm voting absentee for the first time.

cyclokitty 

A quick ride in the elevator! Long line ups this year. I've never lined up to vote before.

ItsJustMe

I always ride. Given the crime rate here, I just park my bike outside (I don't even carry a lock). I'm often the first voter, since even waiting until the normal 7AM opening time requires me to sleep in a bit. Our voting is in a week, though it's hard to tell given the number of robocalls and pollsters we've been getting.

Chris516

Why do you think people would sit on it?

KD5NRH

Thanks to our city ordinance banning bicycles in the central business district, it's illegal to ride within four blocks of the only early voting location.

limeylew

That really sucks.

Move up here to Benbrook TX and you will feel more welcome.

crhilton

It always shocks me how many people drive to vote. They're probably on their way to work, so that makes sense. I typically walk. I guess I biked last year.

I'm saddened that you have schools without bike racks. That makes no sense.

crhilton

They banned bikes in the business district? Texas is so weird...

SCROUDS

Ride anyways. Some laws are wrong.

KD5NRH

That would put me 60 miles from the babysitter and from our land. Besides, I'm already getting advice from your council members on how to fix the issue.

I've contacted a couple of my council members this morning pointing out that there might be much larger issues involved in preventing me from using any legal means of transportation to get to a polling place.

B. Carfree

I was going to be all annoyed at how my local elections staff hired someone to fill the bike lane in front of where we drop off our ballots with sticks, leaves and garbage (only vote-by-mail or drop-off in Oregon, no in person voting), but that seems like pretty small potatoes compared to an outright ban. Let us know when your city reaches the 20th century.

Roody

I'd be trying to vote out the idiots who passed that law!

PomPilot

Man, do I hear you there. I rode my bike (on surface streets) to the county courthouse (1.5 miles from my house), only to find that the parking spaces near the drop box were filled, and cars backed up waiting for one to open up. So, I did the only logical move. I found the driveway into the police station, pulled onto the sidewalk, dismounted and walked my bike the 30 feet back to the ballot drop box.

Rumpled

I like the idea of riding my bike to vote. Maybe I'll ride to vote on Tuesday. In California, we can get permanent absentee ballots, but I always wait too long to mail it so I have to go to the polls to drop it off.
The polling place is up a good sized hill, so it's a decent little workout.