Two years ago, the lovely spouse and I had to stand in line for over two hours to vote. This morning, it was a different story. We got to participate in early voting.
We first went to the town hall, and while it had a line, it looked to be fairly short. But the LS also knew of another early voting place located in the clubhouse of a nearby apartment complex. So we decided to go there. Walked in, showed our IDs and went straight to the voting machines. Done! It doesn't get any easier than that to participate in our republic. So, after voting for President, U.S. Senator, Mayor, Town Council, retaining judges, state constitutional amendment proposals, a few referenda, and some local ballot initiatives about taxes and debt for public schools and libraries, I was done. All in about 5 minutes. Of course, I had my cheat sheet to make sure I was ready.
The voting machines used here also print a paper copy that you can review and approve after voting electronically. No dimpled or hanging chads here!
I'm Randy, and I approved this message!
Showing posts with label voting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label voting. Show all posts
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Caucus Cluster
Well, after always having voted in primary elections during the nominating process for President, tonight I went to my first caucus. What a mess. And what an opportunity for election fraud.
The process went like this. You enter the building, find your name on your precinct's list of registered voters, and sign in on a separate sheet of paper. Once they read the rules, we broke out into our individual precincts (12 were meeting at the school where our caucus was held). Then we took a show of hands for a preliminary vote. Then we went through some confusion and finally took a final count of preferences for President. Then we elected delegates to the county convention twice, since nobody understood how it was to work. When the person I voted for to be a delegate won as the alternate and then proceeded to give her position to a woman who had only her own vote, I felt that wasn't right. I voted for the first woman, not the one she handed her position over to.
The problems are many with this system, and here are some of the reasons why I now believe a primary is better than a caucus:
1. There was no positive identification of voters. I could have claimed to be anyone whose name I saw on the list. They didn't check identification at all.
2. There is no secret ballot.
3. The problems and lack of understanding how the delegates were to be elected.
4. People who had to work or were out of town during the hours of the caucus were disenfranchised...a primary allows for absentee and mail in ballots; along with longer hours for polls to be open.
In other words, the caucus is a complete and utter cluster "you know what". While I respect politics beginning at the neighborhood grassroots level, this is not a good way to do it, in my most esteemed opinion.
The process went like this. You enter the building, find your name on your precinct's list of registered voters, and sign in on a separate sheet of paper. Once they read the rules, we broke out into our individual precincts (12 were meeting at the school where our caucus was held). Then we took a show of hands for a preliminary vote. Then we went through some confusion and finally took a final count of preferences for President. Then we elected delegates to the county convention twice, since nobody understood how it was to work. When the person I voted for to be a delegate won as the alternate and then proceeded to give her position to a woman who had only her own vote, I felt that wasn't right. I voted for the first woman, not the one she handed her position over to.
The problems are many with this system, and here are some of the reasons why I now believe a primary is better than a caucus:
1. There was no positive identification of voters. I could have claimed to be anyone whose name I saw on the list. They didn't check identification at all.
2. There is no secret ballot.
3. The problems and lack of understanding how the delegates were to be elected.
4. People who had to work or were out of town during the hours of the caucus were disenfranchised...a primary allows for absentee and mail in ballots; along with longer hours for polls to be open.
In other words, the caucus is a complete and utter cluster "you know what". While I respect politics beginning at the neighborhood grassroots level, this is not a good way to do it, in my most esteemed opinion.
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