All Things Profane and Sacred

My ballot is all fucked up, I don't like it and I don't like getting the run around to fix it. Y'see, around here, they mail you out your ballot and then you mail it back in. I know. Stupid, huh?

Anyhow, I'm registered as an independent. I got two democratic primary ballots in the envelope. Now I'm running around trying to get the right friggen ballot so my goddamned vote won't be invalidated-I'm sure one of those election grannies could have set me straight in about 5 fucking minutes.

Maybe it's just paranoia, but there is a third party governer running who is likely going to take a chunk of fed up dems (and fed up repubs) with him. And here I am, an independent voter who received not one, but two democrat ballots. Anyone want to guess how many independents are in the same boat? How many independent voters are going to be disqualified in this election because they turned in democrat ballots?

Here in Oregon, if you mention how people go to the polls in other places, they start whining at you-at the polls you have to wait in line! At the polls you may run into undesireables! At the goddamn polls, you have to vote on a certain specified day! God forbid participating in democracy be so inconvenient as to force you to spend time with your community.

One of my fonder memories of waiting at the polls is from the election of 1998. It was my first year voting, and there were exciting races afoot. After waiting for an hour in line to register (we can register at the polls where I'm from), we had to wait another 45 minutes for more ballots to be airlifted in (no one expected a good turnout for a midterm election). It was well worth it-not only did we squeak Russ Feingold back into office where he belongs, but we also elected the first lesbian in the House-Ms. Tammy Baldwin. And it was a blast-we were sitting around the school, laughing and talking and just having a good time.

I know everyone is all for convenience-trust me, I am too. But this vote from home stuff does more than just isolate us from our community-it makes error and fraud easier. Its like the difference between going down to the telephone company and talking to someone who lives in your community and who will be there, named and faced, the next time you come in, and calling the phone company up to discuss a bill. Theoretically, calling someone is easier, more convenient-you can do it anytime, anywhere. But anyone who has been bounced around from customer rep to customer rep, always speaking to someone different who happens to not have any record of any previous calls you made and waiting on hold and speaking with various people scattered all over the world knows that taking five fucking minutes to walk in and talk to someone can save years of frustration and sitting on hold.