Home » brooke

I Voted!

Submitted by Brooke on November 7, 2006 - 11:47pm.
|

I voted for the first time today! I have a few complaints about my local elections office though...

-finding out where I could vote was very confusing. A list of all the polling places was in the paper and online, but the way things were organized, some polling places for Hampton Township, were actually in the city of Mechanicsburg, which is its own district.

-To add to the confusion all of these locations had numbers at the end from 1-5. I have no clue what these numbers stand for and while they were in the paper and on the web, they were not anywhere outside the actual polling places, which in some cases were very close together.

-The computerized voting machines don't seem to have a paper back up system and also had small font, which could have made voting difficult for older voters.

What they did right...

-There were polling places all over the place. There were at least three with-in walking distance from my house and from what it looked like in the paper, that holds true for alot of towns in our area.

-There wasn't a line or a long wait to vote, voting was easy and the people were well trained in explaining how to use the new voting machines.

-Voting information about the candidates and locations were in the paper as well as online making that information available to just about anyone.

-Polls were open from 7am-8pm which allowed people to vote before and after the typical work day.

Overall voting was really really easy, but I think my state needs to make sure that every vote counts, that people feel confident they're votes will get counted and that people can actually read who they are voting for. There were some problems with the computer systems in my state and I think they made the right move in allowing anyone who had issues to fill out an emergency paper ballot and by holding polls open an hour later tonight.

» Brooke's blog | login or register to post comments

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

Congrats on voting!

Submitted by Jenny on November 8, 2006 - 2:31am.

I voted at the polls for the first time today (all of my previous voting has been done absentee), and the whole time I just kept thinking of how grateful I was to our feminist foremothers for fighting for this right for us.

Now we just have to make sure that every vote counts.

» login or register to post comments

I love voting :)

Submitted by Beppie on November 8, 2006 - 5:47am.

Of course, I didn't vote today, because I'm not American, but like Jenny said, it's always such a lovely reminder of what early feminists achieved for us.

All of the problems I've heard about computerised voting in the USA that I've heard about over the last decade makes me very happy that we still use good old paper ballots, with scrutineers from all sides to make sure they're counted properly.

Anyway, good on you Brooke. :)

» login or register to post comments

I'm not sure how much you

Submitted by Daniella on November 9, 2006 - 5:09am.

I'm not sure how much you know about the Florida debacle in 2000, Beppie, but they used paper ballots too. :L I think it's more about the trustworthiness of the elections boards... which is why Florida's behavior isn't surprising.

I'm still away at school and voting absentee, throing my blue votes into the red abyss. But I watched the returns all night long. How incredible to see so many people place their hope in the future. Last night I saw how the democratic process is supposed to work (well, except for Montana and Virginia).

Isn't it just amazing to be a part of.

"A woman for a general, and the soldiers will be women."

» login or register to post comments

I actually didn't

Submitted by Adrienne on November 9, 2006 - 9:10pm.

I actually didn't vote....... which I am incredibly ashamed to admit.

I tried to register in VA, but couldn't figure out how to prove that I live here, and by the time I figured out how to do that, the deadline had already passed to register, and so had the deadline for PA. *le sigh*

I will be prepared in 2008, though..

One thing I heard about VA's though was that when they listed the Ballot Questions, they had a mini-description, and then the text of the question. And guess what? The description was "Define Marriage as One Man, One Woman," or something like that. Way to use homophobia to get votes, guys!

Isn't it really easy to hack into the e-voting machines, though? I remember hearing something about that.

» login or register to post comments

I thought the Florida

Submitted by Beppie on November 10, 2006 - 12:29am.

I thought the Florida debacle had its source in faulty punchcard machines?

» login or register to post comments

Apparently punchcard = paper

Submitted by Daniella on November 10, 2006 - 8:00pm.

Apparently punchcard = paper ballot in my head.

You're right, my bad. :)

"A woman for a general, and the soldiers will be women."

» login or register to post comments