An adventure of getting voter data.

So, the other week I had to go downtown to get access to voter data, and I had to go to this tall anonymous building across from a major plaza, that you wouldn't otherwise go into, and that at most you'd maybe see but not know what's in there and not even have the look of the building register on you, it's so beige and forgetful-looking.

So, I go in and I take an elevator up, and then I go into this anonymous government office and I get directed down the hallway, and there's a little half-door with a bell on top, and you look in and it's a narrow hallway with shelves on both sides full of stacks of paper under labels, and a small table with a computer by one end, and you ring the bell and this (eccentric) (young) (black) (guy) comes out and takes your order, and he pulls a list of active voters from one of the shelves, after you fill out a form.

And, since I wanted precinct maps, I also had to put that on the form, but since I wanted 2 maps and not just 1, I had to pay for 1, and so I got a bill for a quarter, "Cash Only."

After that, he directed me to this other guy, to get the data in electronic format.

For that, I had to get a two part form filled out in the presence of the notary, and the guy told me how to do that.

"There's one in the bank downstairs," he was like.

He also said that low-level city elections are his favorite.

"You get ex-cons running," he was like.  "They get real mad if they get knocked off the ballot, they come up here and they're so pissed."