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We Already Voted

October 28th, 2008 at 04:54 pm

To me, voting is a privilege and a responsibility. I have not missed an election since becoming a naturalized citizen in my 20s. DH is American by birth, so he has always been able to vote... and he does. For the last few years, we have been voting by absentee ballot and find that it is very convenient. It is easy to complete the ballot in the comfort of your home and then mail it. Voters can also drop off absentee ballots at any polling place on Election Day. In CA, you can apply to be a permanent absentee voter but regulations probably vary in other states.

This morning on CNN, I watched a segment about voter registration fraud, the long voter lines expected in some regions, and a myriad of problems with electronic voting machines. In one case, a woman using an electronic machine voted then saw all her votes jump up a line to the opposing candidates when she completed the process. Weird, but CNN actually showed a machine doing that.

Well, this only reinforces that we are happy to be permanent absentee voters. We mailed in our ballots several weeks ago, so we have done our civic duty. On Election Day, we will not have to deal with the stress of getting to the polls before or after work, or waiting in a long line as we have done in the past. (Well, since I'm retired, going before or after work wouldn't have been a problem for me, but no one likes waiting in line.)

5 Responses to “We Already Voted”

  1. Ima saver Says:
    1225214216

    I have voted early too and I loved it!

  2. ceejay74 Says:
    1225215570

    I believe workplaces are required to let you take time off to vote. I like the excitement of going to the polling place and voting on Election Day, oddly enough!

    The voter registration fraud doesn't bother me in terms of the elections--crooked employees filling out false forms isn't going to cause fictional people to vote. The faulty machines, though, are VERY disturbing. I wouldn't be surprised if this election is contested no matter who's declared the winner initially.

  3. scfr Says:
    1225218718

    I couldn't agree more about how important voting is.

    Where I used to live, we could register for permanent absentee ballot. I loved that, because I could sit down with my ballot, my voter's guide, my cup of coffee, and fill out the ballot slowly and deliberately.

    Here in Texas, you need an excuse for voting absentee and you have to request it every year. They do have early voting tho', and I went last week. I waited in line about 30 minutes which wasn't too bad. (I also voted early in the primary ... went to my precinct caucus ... and was a delegate at the county level). While no one was saying "hurry up" while I was voting and everyone was polite and patient, I could not help thinking about the people waiting in line behind me, so tried to hurry. Also, there were no private booths. There were 3-sided privacy "blinds" around the voting screens, but mine was facing so my back was to the people waiting in line, which meant anyone who wanted to could peek and see how I was voting ... Not that I really cared, but I could see circumstances where that could be quite uncomfortable (for example if your boss, who favored a different candidate, was in line behind you).

    While the sense of "civic pride" is heightened by standing in line with other voters, I do prefer the mail-in ballot for the reasons mentioned.

  4. disneysteve Says:
    1225226314

    We already voted, too. We traditionally go away the week of elections so we get absentee ballots. As it turns out, this year we will be home, but we're already on the absentee list so we voted that way.

  5. reginaastralis Says:
    1225240984

    I am thinking we will go on Thursday to vote early, but am considering just going to the polls since we will be getting ready to go out of town Thursday.

    This is Juliette's first election, I was pregnant with her the last time, but I don't know how much I want to stand in line with an almost three year old. People have been reporting waiting over an hour for early voting down here ... so I don't even want to think about how long we'll have to wait if we wait for Election day. We waited well over an hour the year I was pregnant with my daughter, and had to use the restroom about 10 people from the front of the line ... lol. Since then, I've voted early without a child.

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