I have deliberately stayed away from results coverage, though I hope the Russian news crew I met on the flight back from DC Monday are having a good time and getting what they wanted out of it. At the very least I was able to recommend some places to eat and drink to them, though I forgot to remind them that alcohol—most likely needed to deal with the politicians and flunkies—would be cut off during voting. Heck, I forgot it myself and was sore disappointed at lunch when I couldn’t get a good half pint to go with my meal.
The new convenience centers worked well in my experience. I forgot about them (I blame the Face of America bike ride and resulting tiredness) and stopped by my normal polling place on the way into work, but the convenience center was a very short walk from work. The lines moved fairly quickly, were not overly long when I went, and the staff was friendly.
The first major problem is that Indiana’s electronic system does not provide a printed output for the voter nor apparently for the election workers. This is nothing more than fraud waiting to be discovered (as opposed to simply happening). There is no realistic confirmation that you even voted, much less who you voted for, and is not acceptable.
The second major problem, in my opinion, is that there is no way to do write-in candidates. You get to vote for who they say you can vote, and that is it. If there is a way to do write-in candidates, it is not readily apparent and is not clearly posted. The system is not set up for asking for such, much less being able to do it. That takes away a major concept of our voting system—you are not limited to simply the official slate, but can write in as a mechanism for dealing with a variety of ills. Not being able to do so is the mark of several failed totalitarian states, not the Republic.
Just some quick thoughts on the day after.
LW
