Siliconchef by Brian Richardson

Electile Disfunction

Today I voted, like many other people in Georgia. I know many people voted, because I was in line behind them for over 45 minutes …

A few thoughts from today’s participation in the democratic process:

  • Retired people should not administer election sites. I know they’re wonderful volunteers who have the time to work at the poll, but people who have nowhere to be at a particular time have no business trying to manage large lines. The line from “phase one” of the voting process overlapped the line for “phase two” until several of us complained.
  • I can see the separation of church and state at work each time a church is used as a polling site … the church can administer communion to hundreds of followers in under 30 minutes, but the government can’t get me to a glorified ATM in under 45 minutes so I can cast my vote (and perhaps withdraw $40 from my bank account). That doesn’t mean I want the church running the schools, but they should at least talk to each other about cat herding skills.
  • Making people wait in an inefficient line for so long does not make people happy to vote for the lesser of two weasels … it makes them feel like sheep (insert your own joke here).
  • In case you didn’t pay attention in civics class … we do not live in a democracy, we live in a constitutional republic that uses a democratic election process.
  • Engineers forced to stand in a line for 45 minutes will think of every possible way to optimize it
  • I voted for a lot of Libertarian candidates that I know had no chance of winning … but if they get enough votes, then people start to notice they exist.
  • Referendums don’t make a lot of sense when they’re condensed into a single paragraph on a ballot … I hope we voted for what I think we voted for.
  • Every two years, our country has an election without riots, civil war or mass panic. Even if we have a few close races or media frenzies, it’s better than a lot of the world. Let’s keep it that way

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6 responses to “Electile Disfunction”

  1. Asai Avatar
    Asai

    i’m actually quite surprised that the school civics books, especially these days, would even state the fact that the u.s is a constituional republic, not a democracy…

    but then again, how many people would even understand what that means?? well wait, i don’t see that many people to-day crying foul on the bush administration’s marketing strategy tactic to keep their slope arses in public, so i guess it never mattered to begin with…

  2. Joyeuse Avatar
    Joyeuse

    The complaints about standing in line make me grateful for my odd work shift. By the time we got there, about 9:15, all the nine-to-fivers had voted and gone to work (presumably after standing in line for 45 minutes). We spent more time at the voting machines than in line, and had time for brunch before going into work. 😀

  3. Joyeuse Avatar
    Joyeuse

    Oh, and about the referendums: I find it disconcerting that the wording on them was confusing to us. What about the average voter, who is presumably less educated and doesn’t read for fun? (Yes, I’m elitist, sue me.)

    I left most of them alone, as they were either not anything I could relate to (there was some question about maintaining the tradition of hunting and fishing…uh, what tradition is that?), or else seemed too slippery in their wording to allow for an informed yay or nay.

    What I really wanted was an option marked “Huh?”

  4. Asai Avatar
    Asai

    Perhaps there is a book out there that will either decode referendum context or teach us how to read it (for lack of better wording with sounding insulting)… Other than that, I think they were written that way on purpose for whatever scheme they may have going on…

  5. Asai Avatar
    Asai

    *without

    Grr, this is why I utilise code that allows for comment editing…

  6. Jeff Avatar
    Jeff

    Every two years, our country has an election without riots, civil war or mass panic. Even if we have a few close races or media frenzies, it’s better than a lot of the world.

    Amid the frustrations I feel about our elected government, it’s easy to forget about that fact. I’m glad you reminded us.

    Referendums don’t make a lot of sense when they’re condensed into a single paragraph on a ballot … I hope we voted for what I think we voted for.

    At least you’re not voting on state constitutional amendments which are necessary to allow Backwoods County, Alabama to float a bond. I keep hoping that if I vote “no” on enough amendments, we might actually get serious about rewriting our constitution, but I realize that’s dramatically less likely to happen than Amy getting that pony she wanted at ‘con this year.

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