Election Day 3
Happy sunny Friday from election headquarters. We remain gathered watching votes trickle in.
Currently the vote to change the neighborhood entry signs leans 65.9% yes, 34.1% no. We’ve nearly doubled our response from the last update with 46 responses* (26% of the neighborhood), though still have a ways to go to hear from the majority.
Here’s the latest:
Apology count: 2
I’ve received two private messages on Facebook from neighbors apologizing on behalf of other neighbors for getting riled up on the neighborhood Facebook group page. Goodness prevails.
Forgiveness count: 1
When I initially posted to the neighborhood group Facebook page a few weeks ago checking on interest, Carl** was not only not a fan of new signs, but was the first person who told me about the former neighbor’s high school son making the signs in shop class.
I wrote Carl a little note when I dropped his ballot off--I didn’t want him to feel disrespected with my continued effort to replace the signs, but really wanted to hear a whole neighborhood opinion. Carl’s ballot came in today with a kind note back to me. Goodness prevails again!
Meeting Big Sis
Yesterday a woman pulled up to the house while me and B were working from home. Oh my gosh, it’s Big Sis!, he said, looking out the window. There are several homes in our neighborhood the same style as ours, but “Big Sis” is the name we’ve given to the one that’s beautifully cared for outside and we think inside too. We look up to her when we go on neighborhood walks. B recognized her car pulling up from seeing it on her driveway. This is a big non-vote related victory in terms of neighborhood nosiness.
I dare not expose voter privacy and acknowledge how Big Sis voted, but we chatted for awhile as she dropped her ballot off. She’s very kind! She’s one of the few remaining original homeowners in the neighborhood and said she too embarked on a sign update project years ago.
Kid’s wood shop sign: a historical debate
Big Sis also clarified the existing signs were not made by a neighbor’s high school son in shop class, however they were made on the cheap by the high school’s wood shop when the signs before that were crumbling.
Does this mean the Kids-High-School-Shop-Project party is based on fake news? It’s a minor distinction, and can’t be fact checked, but if true it could dispel some emotion that’s popped up.
Voter fraud*
I dropped off one paper survey per household with the intention one house equals one vote. I did include a link to vote online and made name and address mandatory fields. I hoped this would allow me to catch (intended or unintended) voter fraud, and it has.
So far two homes have voted twice (one cast by the husband and one by the wife). One household cast two votes for “no”, and the other two votes for “yes”. One neighbor voted twice herself--presumably thinking her first vote did not go through. I’ll certainly clean this data up before doing a final report, but the biggest takeaway is that this actually means we have 3 less responses than my original count.
Mail-in ballots
Although we’re only 3 days into a 13 day voting window, I’ve been concerned with the quick influx of voting and drastic taper off. Today was a big day for responses however as 4 responses hit my mailbox in an envelope/stamp/through the postal service instead of random drop off or online vote.
Nextdoor app
I recalled last night our neighborhood has a group on the Nextdoor App, and it appears from a quick glance there are a few neighbors on there that aren’t on the Facebook group. I posted the online survey link there for anyone who might have missed it.
Contributions
I’ve been surprised to see what neighbors are willing to contribute to fund this project. Included in the survey was a multiple choice question about monetary contributions, and the both $50 and $40 options are beating out “no”, $20 and $30.
Also surprising is a nice raise of hands for neighbors interested in getting involved, from fundraising to design to install. I was very much hoping to see a few folks sign up to help install as this would save us money.
Well, that’s all from day 3. It’ll be another sleepless night over here as we continue to wait on word from the world. Stay tuned.
(**names have been changed to protect the innocent)
Currently the vote to change the neighborhood entry signs leans 65.9% yes, 34.1% no. We’ve nearly doubled our response from the last update with 46 responses* (26% of the neighborhood), though still have a ways to go to hear from the majority.
Here’s the latest:
Apology count: 2
I’ve received two private messages on Facebook from neighbors apologizing on behalf of other neighbors for getting riled up on the neighborhood Facebook group page. Goodness prevails.
Forgiveness count: 1
When I initially posted to the neighborhood group Facebook page a few weeks ago checking on interest, Carl** was not only not a fan of new signs, but was the first person who told me about the former neighbor’s high school son making the signs in shop class.
I wrote Carl a little note when I dropped his ballot off--I didn’t want him to feel disrespected with my continued effort to replace the signs, but really wanted to hear a whole neighborhood opinion. Carl’s ballot came in today with a kind note back to me. Goodness prevails again!
Meeting Big Sis
Yesterday a woman pulled up to the house while me and B were working from home. Oh my gosh, it’s Big Sis!, he said, looking out the window. There are several homes in our neighborhood the same style as ours, but “Big Sis” is the name we’ve given to the one that’s beautifully cared for outside and we think inside too. We look up to her when we go on neighborhood walks. B recognized her car pulling up from seeing it on her driveway. This is a big non-vote related victory in terms of neighborhood nosiness.
I dare not expose voter privacy and acknowledge how Big Sis voted, but we chatted for awhile as she dropped her ballot off. She’s very kind! She’s one of the few remaining original homeowners in the neighborhood and said she too embarked on a sign update project years ago.
Kid’s wood shop sign: a historical debate
Big Sis also clarified the existing signs were not made by a neighbor’s high school son in shop class, however they were made on the cheap by the high school’s wood shop when the signs before that were crumbling.
Does this mean the Kids-High-School-Shop-Project party is based on fake news? It’s a minor distinction, and can’t be fact checked, but if true it could dispel some emotion that’s popped up.
Voter fraud*
I dropped off one paper survey per household with the intention one house equals one vote. I did include a link to vote online and made name and address mandatory fields. I hoped this would allow me to catch (intended or unintended) voter fraud, and it has.
So far two homes have voted twice (one cast by the husband and one by the wife). One household cast two votes for “no”, and the other two votes for “yes”. One neighbor voted twice herself--presumably thinking her first vote did not go through. I’ll certainly clean this data up before doing a final report, but the biggest takeaway is that this actually means we have 3 less responses than my original count.
Mail-in ballots
Although we’re only 3 days into a 13 day voting window, I’ve been concerned with the quick influx of voting and drastic taper off. Today was a big day for responses however as 4 responses hit my mailbox in an envelope/stamp/through the postal service instead of random drop off or online vote.
Nextdoor app
I recalled last night our neighborhood has a group on the Nextdoor App, and it appears from a quick glance there are a few neighbors on there that aren’t on the Facebook group. I posted the online survey link there for anyone who might have missed it.
Contributions
I’ve been surprised to see what neighbors are willing to contribute to fund this project. Included in the survey was a multiple choice question about monetary contributions, and the both $50 and $40 options are beating out “no”, $20 and $30.
Also surprising is a nice raise of hands for neighbors interested in getting involved, from fundraising to design to install. I was very much hoping to see a few folks sign up to help install as this would save us money.
Well, that’s all from day 3. It’ll be another sleepless night over here as we continue to wait on word from the world. Stay tuned.
(**names have been changed to protect the innocent)