Hours of Daylight – 10:07
Just returned from voting. As my colleague points out “God: it has begun.”
Back in New York we voted using these big black mechanical devices with a massive red lever. They made noise and it was great. When you pulled that giant red lever (you had to really throw it) and then faced a matrix of switches that clicked like an old adding machine, you felt you were somehow connected to the whole process. Click, click, click as you made your choices. Some machines were more “positive” than others; the little lever clicked like an old circuit breaker, “take that Reagan” i uttered when threw the switch for his competitor and then returned the giant red lever to the “register vote” position with a resounding click-click-click ka-THUD!
In Minnesota the system is scannable paper ballots. At first i was skeptical of this system, but i’ve since come to realize its merits. First and foremost: there is a physical paper ballot. In the event of recount or some kind of alligation of voter fraud i could sort through the pile of ballots and find MINE. I would recognize mine by a small mark i put in a corner. Secret ballots were important when voting for high school class president, but when it comes to picking a leader of a country with many nuclear weapons i have no problem saying who i voted for.
Yeah, i realize secrecy is a hallmark of our system. I’m not arguing for a change on that count.
Todays voting was pretty much the same as the other three times i’ve voted in this state with one small exception. Annette and i went early, arriving just after the polls opened. After a while standing in line a person came out and said “the machine is not working, so they’re collecting ballots but not scanning them.” A woman ahead of me in line looked at her watch, “17 minutes into the day and already there’s a glitch.”
We made our way to the entrance to the voting room. The poll worker at the door let a guy ahead of me in, thus i was waiting right next to the poll worker.
“So, what failed?”
“What?”
“The ballot counter. What failed? Is it the scanner? The wireless link? And when did you realize it was not working?”
“Oh, i, uh, well, i was just told it wasn’t working.”
A short, plump woman bustled over. “Who are you?” she asked me.
The poll worker quickly said, “a voter. He was asking about the machine.”
“I was asking what failed, when you realized it had failed, did you call it in to the regional office, that sort of thing.”
“Look, if you need to blame somebody blame me, it’s my fault.”
“I don’t care who’s fault it is, i’m just worried that on the one day it matters the machine develops issues.”
A spot opened at the sign-in table so i left the plump woman and moved on. After i signed in, got my reciept, handed off the reciept and was handed my ballot it was announced the machine was now working. Seems a technician had shown up and done a quick fix. We were back in business.
So, there you have it. From start to finish it took about an hour. Nothing to do now but wait.
Oh, the motorcycle dealer called…. “my” BMW R1200GS is in. I’m going down to drop the title to the Vic, a huge check, see my new toy, then wait for the check to clear and then have the Beemer delivered.
Probably have the first major snowfall this weekend. Might get as much as two rides in on the beemer before the hard freeze. Oh well.