I was shocked by how dysfunctional the whole process was. I didn't have to show ID. I just told them my name and they found my name on a roster and I initialed next to it. When I was actually voting it was marking bubbles on a scantron sheet. ... it would be quite easy to "adjust" the ballot box thing so that the incorrect bubbles are marked without the marker knowing an error was made. The wording on the ballot, especially for all the various propositions was also very confusing and often times quite biased, either for or against a proposition. I can totally see how older or uneducated people could be confused by the whole process. I know I was and I don't consider myself to be too old nor too uneducated. After I was done marking the scantron, I wandered around trying to find out what I was supposed to do with my ballot. I finally found a guy at a table who said he would take it. I gave it to him and that was that. As I walked out of the building ... I realized that I have no idea if my vote will actually be counted. ...Several years ago when I heard murmurings like this I decided to volunteer to sit at the polls, to see how fair they were. The first two or three times I offered to help I was passed over, as they likely had enough people. Then one year the County Clerk's office sent a notice for asking me to help. This happened to be the first year that my state used electronic voting machines. There was a training session, and then I had to show up to the polls on election day.
So as I was driving to work I didn't feel good about doing my civic duty. I felt anxious because I didn't trust the whole process at all. ... There has to be a better way to vote.
The point I'm driving towards is this: the elections are as fair, in my view, as humanly possible. No, they are not perfect. Yes, there are sometimes minor errors, but the elections are fair, and those involved try to do the best job possible. Sometimes I hear a call for more technology to be used, but that won't necessarily help. What is the best solution is for people to get involved, find out what goes on in the election process, see what safeguards are in place, and if they have ideas to share them with election officials (in between the elections please, not in the middle of one). Mostly, quit your belly-achin'. Unfounded doubts and murmurings about the election system do nothing except keep people from going to the polls.
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