Today, for the first time, I voted. Instead of doing a mail-in, I went in, waited in line, and voted. The experience was not much, however, my thoughts

  • The format: They had 2 people at the computers, one women writing down everyone’s names, and then 10 or so balloting stations. When I first got there, I had to fill out a paper with my name, address, and signature. This was then handed to someone at the computer who looked at your information, checked your address, and printed off a bar code sticker and placed it on the sheet, and then handed the sheet back to you. I then took this sheet to a balloting station where a women showed me how to get started.
  • To begin, you have to find the correct number on the bar code, and hit the touch screen to get to your number. Apparently the number defines your general location.
  • There are then the presidential candidates, etc, along with the amendments to vote on. I counted 16 presidential candidates.
  • The way the amendments are structured is ridiculous. Some are all in capital letters, some are not. I hate reading in all capital letters, and I am not alone. I don’t see any reasoning behind this, does anyone know?

The amendments are worded quite odd. I expected it since I had looked into all my amendments prior to going to vote, and because general amendments are like that. However, I’d guess 70-80% of the people who vote do not know what the amendments mean. Trying to understand them quickly to get in and out is quite hard. I think they should hand out flyers in the voting room with information on each ballot, so people don’t end up spending all day trying to read and understand them.

While the voting was nice and automated, the process to get to the balloting station was not. They could have easily had the entire voting process automated, would would have made it easier and faster to vote. Considering how many people vote, I think it would be a good idea to get it fully automated one day.

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Patrick

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I write for fun, I travel for fun, and I enjoy learning. I hate sugar-coating things. Understand the world in reality, not by dogma. Question everything.

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