The Poverty Jet Set

Thoughts on Voting

I just went to the polls. It felt good, my hand shook by the last minute poll stumpers, to be thanked to be there, to see democracy in action (even though I was the only voter there).

After I voted, I had an enlightening conversation with the lady running the booths. I asked her if I got a receipt with my electronic vote.

“No, why?”

“It’s all so invisible. My vote just disappears into the machine. How can I be sure it’s registering my vote the way I want it to? How can I go back and show you emphatically who I voted for? What do they do if they need to recount?”

“My, you have a good point there. I don’t think I know.”

I wish voting actually mattered. I wish America would realize that it’s system is getting further and further corporatized, corrupt, and opaque. But, alas, I say this with nary a worry. I used to worry about things like this. But now, eh. Voting isn’t going to change the world. It’s going to have to be something bigger. It’s going to have to be something bolder. Voting is so 20th Century. I’m going to try and visualize a better reality, and attempt to be the revolution itself.

But just in case:

If you experience any irregularities in voting today, call 1-866-OUR-VOTE, the hotline for the National Campaign for Fair Elections. EFF lawyers and many others are standing by across the country to take legal action to remove malfunctioning voting machines, keep polls open, etc. [Link.]

Technorati Tags: electronicvoting, revolution, idea, politics, vote, voting, corruption, povertyjetset, Philly

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 7th, 2006 at 8:54 am and is filed under ideas, politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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lord_whimsy 11/07/2006 03:23 PM 1 point
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Got a flag if you need one.

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Audrey 11/07/2006 03:55 PM 1 point
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I had a bizarre voting experience this morning.

the polling place was hard to find, and it was in what looked like a house nest to delaware ave. there was no sign on the door but a man, surrounded in trash and sitting on the stoop next door told me i was in the right place.
so i walked inside. and i too was the ONLY person there to vote. there were 4 people working and when
i told them my last name, and i had 2 last names on my registration, one lady said "ah, did you get married?" and i said
" it's a long story." and then the four of them start cracking jokes about marriage and divorce and name changes and they are cackling so loudly when i walk into the booth to cast my vote that i can hardly think.
but one hardly needs to think to vote, right?

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magdalenus 11/07/2006 06:48 PM 1 point
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Whoa, Audrey. That is bizarre. Fishtown. What a place.

The Whimsy flag:

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