Election Day

Ah, Election Day! The day we know the end is near: the end of the campaigns and the end of the campaign advertising. One more day of this political publicity pollution and then we can all get back to normal.
Election returns are so anti-climactic these days. Even ballot counting that goes on for weeks would never qualify as a "cliff hanger." And mailing your ballot, along with your gas bill and birthday card to your sister, just doesn't have the same cache that going to the polls had. I miss the nice retired ladies with the cookies in the church auditorium. What are they doing now?
It is a lot more convenient, though. So why do election officials expect only 56 percent of registered voters to submit their ballots by midnight tonight?
Has the plethora of political ads led to greater apathy among voters? And, if so, can we fight fire with fire? Perhaps we need a public service campaign (another advertising campaign?!) to combat voter apathy. Rock the Vote and Washington Bus are two programs aimed at activating teens during elections, but what about us old folks? Only half of us are voting right now. Seems like there's a lot of room for improvement.