So, we decided that the best line avoidance policy this morning was to roll out of bed and be in line when the polls opened. I'd never been to the polls as they were opening, so I wasn't sure what to expect, and verily, there was a line snaking down the sidewalk. We were in line at 6:15 and out by 7:00, which is not bad for this year, me thinks.
I voted for Obama and against Libby Dole, and for Democrats in general, as well as 3 of the 4 bond issues. I didn't vote a straight ticket - not only had I been reading horror stories online about straight tickets getting flipped, I know someone it happened to. There was also a bit of satisfaction for every button I pressed that doesn't come with voting a straight ticket, and that I hadn't anticipated.
So, yay.
Now I need to get a shower and get dressed and fed, and then head out, because I'm canvassing at for Obama at 9.
Well done! For some reason evenings are always better here (line-wise) which doesn't make any sense to me. Maybe because in national elections some of the results are coming in already?
...yeah, almost. In NC, you can vote "straight ticket" for your party, which will count as a vote in all the partisan races EXCEPT the President. (Here in NC, we vote for a lot of Democrats in local races, but typically Republicans for President--a "Dixiecrat" may share some basic platforms with a typical Democrat from other parts of the country, but generally cannot be construed to be a liberal in the same sense. So the Presidential vote was uncoupled from the "straight ticket" vote by law some years back.) There's a whole nother section of nonpartisan races, too (mostly judges and whatnot) that you still have to vote for independently whether or not you vote "straight ticket".
And while I'm here--glad you got your vote in early, Miss joyce. For what it's worth, being there at about 5:15 meant there was 1 person in line ahead of me, so I was in and out in about as long as it took me to fill out the page.
Though I'm mighty curious, too, how somebody'd know if their straight-ticket ballot got 'flipped' as you say--?
...Good answer, and probably better than any of the Florida 2000 answers ("I just know I voted wrong!").
But what are these "screens" of which you speak? :)
seriously--I'm a computer guy, but sometimes the simplest solutions are the best. Like I said to stagger_lee77, paper ballots are impossible to crash (and the optical machines are tough to crash), and they're straightforward to audit, since you've got a box of all the ballots cast in each precinct for as long as statutorily required... and you can either run 'em through another optical scanner, or count 'em by hand if you're really paranoid.
I've got an inherent mistrust of any voting method that doesn't leave a physical artifact as a record of my vote for any potential audits--especially after 2000's shenanigans.
And it's hard enough to duplicate that kind of auditability that I've heard proposals for electronic machines that print a receipt that the voter can view before it goes into the audit box... though I haven't actually seen such a thing.
I wasn't defending the machines, merely stating that I was working around a known bug. :)
The machines Guilford County uses print a paper receipt that you can view through a window, but it's small type and hard to read. I was keeping an eye on mine, though.
...we have scantron here in inside-the-Beltline Raleigh. they actually replaced the old-n-busted booths with clicky levers with a nice new scantron system about... oh, geez, was it a dozen years ago already? anyways, it's more reliable and more auditable, so I'm for it.
What's a straight ticket? Is that voting one party all the way down, or voting for all the issues, or what?
And while I'm here--glad you got your vote in early, Miss
Though I'm mighty curious, too, how somebody'd know if their straight-ticket ballot got 'flipped' as you say--?
peace to you,
--me
But what are these "screens" of which you speak? :)
seriously--I'm a computer guy, but sometimes the simplest solutions are the best. Like I said to
I've got an inherent mistrust of any voting method that doesn't leave a physical artifact as a record of my vote for any potential audits--especially after 2000's shenanigans.
And it's hard enough to duplicate that kind of auditability that I've heard proposals for electronic machines that print a receipt that the voter can view before it goes into the audit box... though I haven't actually seen such a thing.
peace,
--me
The machines Guilford County uses print a paper receipt that you can view through a window, but it's small type and hard to read. I was keeping an eye on mine, though.