I voted today. I sat at my desk, felt-tip pen in hand and filled in the bubbles on the ballot, beginning with my vote for Hillary Clinton. The ballot was long. But it only took me about 15 minutes and I stuffed it into the mail back envelope. This is how I have been participating in our shaky democracy for years. No more driving to the polling place and having my name looked up by blue-haired Republican committee women, and then spending a half hour punching out little pieces of paper with a little stiletto.
Why the hell would anybody do it the old way when the mail ballot option is available. Why, in some places, wait in line for hours in rain or blazing sun with some people wearing T-shirts band saying things that make you want to punch the crap out of their brains when you can vote in the comfort and privacy of your own home (obvious rhetorical question)? Because we have a lot of stupid Americans, that’s why. Jesus, this country has managed to get near forty percent of the electorate behind a megalomaniac, sexist, racist neo-Nazi. You want stupid, we got plenty of stupid, and that extends to the way we do voting.
No system is foolproof or tamper-proof. But paper ballots, like my mail-in, are probably the best, whether filled out at polling places or home. But mail-in is probably better, since the post office is likely more trustworthy than whoever handles the ballot boxes. Paper is also more reliable than electronic machines that can malfunction and do not produce a paper ballot if a recount is necessary. And there is good reason to trust on-line voting the least; do I have to say Russian hackers.
Of course all this concern with trust is really about the fact that I don’t trust the most untrustworthy part of the system—humans, American humans, cheating American humans, and mostly Republican cheating American humans. There has been a lot of talk about Trump’s charges of the electoral system being “rigged.” In a sense he is right; but not for the reasons he claims. These are the types of cheaters who want to game the system with voter suppression (of minorities) laws, and gerrymandering legislative districts. Check, and you will find it is Republican governors and Republican-majority state legislatures who are out to rig the electoral system before you ever get to fill out that ballot.
Americans like to think that they invented democracy and free and fair elections both of which are pretty much a joke in America. Think George W. Bush. But I will vote nevertheless, on the off chance that we might get it right.
4 comments
You go, Jim! I’m behind you all the way. (Just hope we’re not being followed.)
Glad to know you have my back, E.
I love to vote with my son and the neighbors. We have to stroll almost a block to get to the garage of folks who used to be our next-door neighbors before we moved around the corner. It’s like old home week catching up on chatter. Then we often celebrate with frozen yogurt and toppings– perhaps later with questionable beverages. This year is so special because afterwards I won’t have to see any more Trump rallies. I just wish this whole mess wouldn’t take almost two years. There must be reform to shorten campaigns. Being a bona fide political junkie since the 40’s can take a lot out of you. I admit to feeling limp and I can hardly wait till this misery ends. After November 8th I’ll have my life back.
Lory, your description of voting at the polls has a quaint, Norman Rockwell feel, to it, something of a mythic nostalgia of perhaps when America was great enough to not have to boast being great. Enjoy the yoghurt.
Comments are closed.