I am surprised that Michael didn’t highlight this quote, which comes directly from elections observation that I undertook along with Michael, Thad, Morgan Llewellyn, and Melissa Slemin:

“I do admit some sort of nostalgia for the polling place,” said Paul Gronke, director of the Early Voting Information Center.

“I’ve seen wonderful ones in people’s garages with basketball hoops and snacks, where people wander in and they’re talking and it’s really special,” he said. “I saw that in Orange County and in Riverside and in Los Angeles. I’m still not convinced we haven’t lost something if we completely do away with those.”

Michael or Morgan can post more, but both have told me that the garage we visited was a particularly well set up polling place, and may not be representative.

And of course, no mention of these events is complete without reminding people that I locked my keys in my rental car with the engine running!