I got around to early voting this final Thursday of the 2026 version of October. I had intended to do my daily walking and nature communing in the Sikes Senter mall location of the polling place, prior to voting.
Voting was to start at 11 am. I arrived a half hour before the voting opening.
A line was already forming. I decided to opt for stationary walking, in line, rather than my normal mode of walking.
The line wait turned out to be a bit entertaining. I enjoyed it. Good stationary nature communing
The Sikes Senter mall is pretty much a ghost town. There are only a few stores still operating. And they also wait til 11 am to open.
In the photo documentation, above, you can only see a couple of the voters ahead of me. There were maybe a dozen more. And behind me, several dozen.
It had been a few years since I opted to use the polling place means of voting. I'd been using the mail in ballot method. But, for some reason, I did not trust that method, this year.
The in person voting method at my Texas location has gone hi-tech, way beyond any previous, in person, voting experience.
After showing photo I.D. and my voter registration card, I was given a couple things to sign, one via an electronic stylus method. I was then given a sheet of paper, with a directional arrow at the top, and the ACCESS CODE 27009 you see photo documented above.
After being given those two pieces of paper, I was directed to a voting station where I inserted the piece of paper and entered the ACCESS CODE. All via the touch screen method.
Then the voting began. Also, via the touch screen method.
When I reached the end of the voting I was asked to review my choices, did so, then instructed, when satisfied with the choices, to hit the print button.
Did so, the piece of paper then got sucked into the machine and my ballot was printed. I was then instructed to go to another station, with the printed ballot, where I waited in a short line to insert that ballot sheet of paper into another high-tech machine, which sucked in the paper, and then advised me there would be a short wait til completion. Just a few seconds later the American flag was waving on the screen and I was told my voting was complete.
I was then given the I VOTED TODAY sticker you see photo documented above.
Is this what it is like to vote in person at my old Washingtons state zone of voting? For years I voted via the mail in ballot method, in Washington. I do not remember the last election in Washington where I voted in person at a polling place.
