A very good friend is running for a seat in the Maine state senate. Two years ago the vote was very close and decided in a recount. It will be close again this year. My wife and I had absentee ballots mailed to us in Annapolis. We arrived in Annapolis seven days after the ballots were mailed from Belfast. They hadn't arrived and we couldn't wait for them.

I called Belfast, had those ballots cancelled and new ones sent to us in New Bern NC. We got to New Bern six days after the second set was mailed. They weren't there. I waited around for six more days, anchoring out every night and coming into the free day dock to check the mail. No ballots. I called Belfast again, had the second set of ballots cancelled and new ones shipped express mail for $23. They came today. I filled mine out and expressed it back to Belfast. I overnighted my wife's to Pennsylvania where she is helping her daughter recover from surgery. Overnight from North Carolina to Pennsylvania also costs $23 but takes 2 1/2 day. Go figure.

I can't imagine what this process would have been like if we were out of the US by now. If I hadn't made this work and my friend had lost by one or two votes I would have been devastated. It had to be done. But what's with the US Postal Service? Elections are important. Mail that's clearly marked as containing absentee ballots should be treated better than ours were.

Sorry for the rant. I feel a little better.