I Noticed Something Unusual When I Went To Vote Today

I have to start by pointing out the fact that my work hours mean that I run errands either before or after most people, so my polling place is usually pretty quiet when I go to vote around 11am.

I don't think that the slow place at my polling location necessarily points to low voter turnout.

But the opposite may be true.

I was surprised when I got to my polling place this morning that the parking lot was unusually busy.

In fact, in my 11 years living in my Ocean County district, I might go so far as to say that this was the busiest I've ever seen my polling place at 11 in the morning.

I live in an older district, too, and I'm usually the youngest person stopping by to cast a ballot.

Again, I'm going to chalk that up to my lifestyle. Most adults are working (or at school in the case of younger voters) when I'm out and about.

But today I saw a number of young voters at the poll.

In fact, I have to assume that it was the first time voting for one young guy I saw there who asked one of the volunteers what he is supposed to do next after casting his ballot.

I wanted to give him a high five.

Seeing someone voting for the first time is great.

Seeing someone voting for the first time in a midterm election, though? I have to believe that is relatively unusual.

I'm going to put a big disclaimer on this - just because I saw more people than I usually do, and younger people than I usually do, doesn't necessarily mean anything as far as results are concerned.

I'm not trying to draw any conclusions based on my personal experience, I'll leave that to the pollsters now and the official results later, but it was something that stood out to me for sure.

What was your voting experience like today? Feel free to share on our Facebook page!