Vote: Bring ID and expect other surprises

[glatt]

I showed up half an hour after the polls opened here in Arlington, VA. I got in line at 6:30 and walled out the door and was on my way at 7:40. The line stretched out of the elementary school gym, down the hall, out the door, along the sidewalk by the school parking lot, and out onto the sidewalk along the street.

I sat on a jury a couple years ago when a man was accused of bringing a firearm onto school property when it was actually in a gym bag, locked in his car's trunk. The police pulled him over for a traffic violation shortly after he left the school parking lot. They found the gun in the trunk after he consented to a car search and informed them of the gun. We didn't get to deliberate because during the trial, his stupid attorney realized that all evidence and his client's own testimony indicated that he was guilty. So he struck a deal with the DA. Good thing too, because the law was very clear. The defendant was very likeable, but he did violate the law by driving his car into the school parking lot while a gun was locked in the trunk.

Showing up at an elementary school polling place with a gun to protect your right to vote isn't a good idea. I hope NBN's polling place is in a firing range or or something.