VOTE!!

Get out there and vote please!! You cannot bitch about the system unless you do your part 🙂

Lot’s of interest/controversy surrounding the electronic voting machines of course. My polling place had the dreaded Diebold machine. However, it was very easy to use. All of them were working. The best part was that after voting you could go through page by page and review your selections, then print out each page and see the selection on paper in the machine. That way there was a paper backup for your selections. The paper trail remained with the machine as your official ballot though – wish there had been a copy for me, but still it’s better than not having any paper trail at all! Of course here in CA we have all those damn propositions. I hate that process. It’s entirely too easy to get something on the ballot and every year we are innundated with these things. Most of the time I vote No just as a general protest to the system!! This year there were statewide, countywide AND city initiatives. Took me well over an hour Sunday night to read through all the damn things. I swear that if this state is going to keep letting any Tom Dick and Harry throw something on the ballot, then they need to switch to the Oregon system of Vote By Mail. First it takes forever to read them all, then the actualy voting time is much longer since you have to select all of them and then double check. Talk about a deterrant to voting! Actually, I am serious about the VBM thing. They have had it in Oregon for 8 years and it has steadily increased voter turnout every election cycle. Some counties in Washington state have had it for 10 years and report similar results. Did you know there was an 86% turnout in Oregon for the ’04 presidential election? 86!! That is awesome! Plus, more people actually register there since it is such an easy process. Eliminate the feeling of insecurity that the voting machines are creating and increase participation. Eliminate voter intimidation tactics. Eliminate attempts to surpress voter participation. Eliminate the chances that a governor is turned away from his polling place or that a congressperson struggles with a voting machine.
In fact, here is a link to the Vote By Mail project site. Check it out. This is a non-partisan issue in my opinion. Any voter should be concerned about the issues impacting your right to vote and the accuracy of vote counts. This is our most fundamental right as Americans and I do believe it has been hampered of late through advancements in technology which have cost too much money and which were pushed out too fast without proper testing. I’d rather deal with a dangling chad than have my vote totally switched behind the scenes without me ever seeing it 😉