All Over but the Countin'

Call me sentimental, but I miss the days where I could go to bed on election night and wake up the next morning knowing who my elected officials are. I don't like staying up till 3:00 a.m. only to find out that we don't know anything yet.

I did get to vote yesterday, and only had to wait 30 minutes. This was actually the first time I ever waited to vote. We've moved to new electronic machines, and a lot of the elderly people in front of me couldn't figure out how to use them. So the workers had to keep explaining to them that after you've made all your choices, you have to push the big flashing red button to cast your votes. Which seems easy enough, but if you push this before you are ready, I don't think there is a way to withdraw your vote. And the machine just says "thank you" when you push it. No confirmation that the vote went through.

I vote in the autobody shop of my high school. And while I was standing in line, students were cutting through the room to go to class and yelling things like "Go Bush" or "Bush sucks." Which of course is in violation of the law since they were technically campaigning within about 10 feet of the machines. And we only had 3 machines, yet they chose to set them up right next to each other. So privacy was pretty much non-existent. I almost said something to them, but never wanting to be the one to stir up controversy, I just let them go on with their duties.

I'm a little shocked that I still don't have to show ID. I simply walk in, give my name, and then she reads me my address asking if it's correct. Then I have to sign a paper and put my address on it at the next table. I guess this is their failsafe that if I put the wrong address, they'll know I'm faking it. Without considering that the chic at the previous table just read me the address they have listed for me. Not very effective for catching voter fraud if you ask me.

Although I probably shouldn't complain since I at least wasn't told I couldn't vote because I was dead, as happened to thousands of people in Indianapolis.