the election process can be such a pain in the ass. mostly at times when you go all the way to the new polling place they sent you a notice to find because your precinct has changed and the slow but kind old man can't seem to work his palm-pilot voter search thingy's stylus. he can't find your name and after twenty minutes you realize you can't afford to stay any longer to fill out a provisional ballot. so not only are you unable to fulfill your civic duty, you're late to work.
***UPDATE***
my parents, who are in the same precinct as i am, went to the same polling place later that evening and the people had no trouble finding my dad's name. he went into the makeshift cardboard booth to vote and another woman (who happened to be the one who had originally been unable to find me) couldn't find my mom. my father overheard the discussion and came out of the booth to say, 'she's my wife, if i'm there, she's there!' he was reprimanded by the polling police, who yelled at him to get back in there or his vote wouldn't count. the woman found them and then told my parents to apologize to me on their behalf -- we were all there: dad, mom, cadiz and even little bro, who lives in alabama and who i suspect has voted maybe once since he was able.
sometimes i wonder if the people working such an important facet of our democracy have to take a test first or at least get a little training. you know, in the alphabet and stuff.
We're not that sophisticated yet here in upstate NY, so the old people at our polling locations can still keep up (relatively speaking). All of our voting equipment is getting replaced over the next year though, so I may be able to relate soon.
ReplyDeleteI don't know the laws in Illinois, but in NY, you are legally entitled to a certain amount of time off from work to vote. How much time depends on how far from your polling place you live.
ReplyDeleteActually, come to think of it, I'm not 100% sure that it's law, but I know they do that where I work, and I can't imagine they're just being nice.
Ain't democracy grand?
ReplyDeleteI guess that's a reson to be thankful for not being old enough to vote yet, eh?
ReplyDeleteand I'm linked!! yayness!
i hate it when people suggest to vote for the 'lesser evil" the hell kinda crap is that! i rather not vote at all-
ReplyDelete::cries softly::
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't matter anyway, the whole process is decided before we even get to the booths.
I am determined to become a hermit in some far away place and live under a rock for the rest of my life.