Voting day
11.02.2004I just voted. Stood in line for over an hour. Walking home now. There's a lady w/ a Texas ID insisting they let her vote. Other than that, moving like clockwork. .:from Treo
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UPDATE 1: I don't wanna write much about the election, but I wanna at least give my impression of my precinct. I wrapped up class, bought a scone & latte, and headed down to the Vine Street Alternative School to vote. There's a few pictures up on my moblog.
The lines were remarkably long, despite November rain & drizzle; I stood in line almost two hours. Election monitors were pleasant, and politely helped people fill out their voting application forms, as well as asking people to put away (or hide) campaign buttons & stickers. Most voters were young (my precinct's in Kalamazoo's major "student ghetto").
Two anecdotes spoke to the integrity of voting staff at my predominantly-Democrat precinct: As I voted, a little old white lady was clearly confused about her ballot, and a young black election worker helped her mark a straight ticket Republican ballot, then read her all six ballot proposals, before helping her feed the ballot into the electronic tabulator (they were seated next to me so I overheard them). In contrast, a woman w/ a Texas driver's license tried to vote ahead of me, and the staff refused to let her intimidate them into voting (I overheard the phone conversation to the Secretary of State office, and the staff telling her she wasn't actually registered to vote anywhere in Michigan). Meanwhile, other staff walked the long line, making sure students were at the right precinct, sending them to the right one (usually the Bernhard Center on campus) if they weren't.
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UPDATE 2: Various versions of this are floating around the blogosphere. Here's mine. After I walk away from the ballot box tomorrow, and the results come in, I pledge to:
Support the president, even if I didn't vote for him.
Criticize the president, even if I did vote for him.
Uphold standards of civilized, liberal discourse.
Remember I have a right to vote, but not a right to have my candidate win.
Remember those who voted differently are neither uninformed nor immoral.
Put ideals over partisanship & work to make America better.
Posted by Miguel at 02:16 PM
Comments
Sounds good and reasonable.
My polling place ( South Middle School) was very busy, with 2 precincts voting there, 21, & 24. 21 had a long line, 24 (Vine Neighborhood), which is mine, had a short line, relatively. When I walked out of there @ 8:15 or so, I was voter # 61.
We were all cramped into a small space and it was easy to see what the people next to you were voting for. Additionally, there were some challengers or whatever milling around weirdly in the small room. I do not feel totally confident in the organization or integrity of the voting process there. I wish I could, I really really do.
As for the pledge, it sounds reasonable enough. I can agree with it.
Posted by: cat at November 2, 2004 03:29 PM
My wait was only five people in front of me. Other places in D.C. had lines around the block. I brought my mp3 player in anticipation of long lines, and I never had to take it out of my pocket.
Posted by: eduardo at November 2, 2004 03:30 PM
Watching CNN and NBC most of the night, I have to say: Your voting system is quite bureaucratic and complicated. If the popular vote counted, the election would be decided by now.
For registration:
Why isn't everyone automatically registered the minute he/she turns 18?
Isn't it easier to decide on a case to case basis who is not allowed to vote rather than having nobody allowed to vote until he/she is registered?
Anyway, none of my business, but if the rooms are that crowded that one can see who the other is voting for, then the voting process is in essence decided by open ballot. Isn't that irregular?
Also counting the absentee ballots and provisionary ballots is so bureaucratic the way it is. If they hadn't to be sorted into the counties but if there were a popular vote instead, one could very well know the results less than 24 after the election. Now it seems that in Ohio 11 days will pass until they start counting those ballots...
Who likes the process the way it is and who would like it to be simpler?
Posted by: Marco at November 3, 2004 04:12 AM