I'm writing this before any election returns are available, so I also won't be able to comment on the outcome.

My primary focus in this article is the state of voting in America and how my personal experiences today may be indicative of the overall voting situation. The sanctity of voting is an issue that concerns all Americans (and, frankly, all citizens of the world) and should not be a partisan issue.

Remember, if today one side gets an unfair advantage and you don't mind because you're on that side, there's always the chance the other side will get the advantage in a future election. We want to be sure that neither side ever has an unfair advantage.

Today was also my first voting experience in Florida. Given Florida's history and reputation with voting, I was very curious about what I'd encounter.

Voting in my district took place in the town's city hall complex. As I parked, I encountered the first electioneering situation, which you can see in Figure A.

FIGURE A

Regardless of what side you're on, electioneering doesn't belong in a polling place. Click picture for a larger image.

Regardless of what side you're on, electioneering doesn't belong in a polling place. This gentleman and his table were literally in the parking lot of the polling place, inside the actual city hall complex. You can see the official "Vote" sign, pointing the arrow toward the door, right next to him. It's maybe ten paces to the entrance to the voting room.

Now, before about half of you go off and send me email because you think I'm opposed to this man's politics, it's not about that. I'd be just as concerned if a more "liberal" issue was being advocated. No electioneering should take place right outside the polling place.

My actual voting location was inside the town hall's council chambers. And it was here, in a very crowded room, that I noticed the second example of electioneering. It's shown in Figure B, although it's hard to make out.

FIGURE B

There's a yellow ribbon hanging over the polling place. Click picture for a larger image.

We've purposely blurred the voters in the image, and, of course, this is from a camera phone, so the image quality is pretty bad. But the sign showed a large yellow ribbon with the phrase "We support you". On the surface, this is a very benign sign. Some of my closest friends are in Iraq and Afganistan and I certainly support them and hope fervently for their safe return.

But there is no doubt the war is a very heated issue and the yellow ribbon symbolizes a certain perspective on this issue that might be interpreted to have a partisan position. I honestly think its sweet that my town council chamber has such a banner hanging over it, but it's not appropriate for a voting location.

I'm not even sure this was purposeful electioneering. It may simply have been a sign left up from regular business. But while such a sign is fine 364 days a year, on Election Day, it should have been taken down.

By the way, we're reasonably sure it's ok for us to publish the images of the polling place. We've checked a variety of other news sources, such as CBS News, and they all have pictures of polling places. However, we are making sure you can't see individual voters, having blurred out their faces in order to respect their right to privacy.