I was a good citizen and exercised my right to vote today, though I can’t say it was terribly inspiring. Voting has always seemed to be a choice between the lesser of two evils; this year the evils made themselves quite while known and I showed up more to vote against them than for their opponents. I’ve spent past elections poring over platforms and candidate’s positions on the the issue; this year was more of a gut feeling on who wasn’t a complete jerk.
This year’s campaigns has been fairly obnoxious, and more intrusive than in the past. My mailbox has been stuffed full of flyers, and my voicemail always has “important policital messages” sent by automated lobbying groups. The latter should be illegal; perhaps I could let my congresspeople know with an automated system of my own…
Despite past miscounts and questions about closed, proprietary voting machines, the physical polling place was pretty relaxed, once you ran the gauntlet of last minute lobbyists up to the front door. It wasn’t as bad as Robert Stack’s scene in Airplane, but there still needs to be a greater standoff distance. Inside, there was no ID check, just a signature next to your name in the book.
It’s a striking contrast to any election photos you see in developing nations getting their first taste of democracy, where seriously determinted pollsters shuffle locked ballot boxes under the watchful eye of armed guards. A bit dramatic, but it leaves no doubt as to the gravity and passion of the event.
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