My Early Voting Experience

[AldebTX]

First, today is the last day to early vote in Texas and like a lot of folks I put it off until the last minute. What can I say, I am a procrastinator. That's one of the reasons I voted today so I could say I didn't wait until the VERY last minute (Tuesday)

On the way to the polling site I decided to run some errands.....(like I said I am a procrastinator).

My car has a round Obama / Biden 08 magnet and while I was dropping off dry cleaning a worker from one of the construction crews working in our area walks over to me. Several thoughts were going through my mind like, uhm...maybe he is going to tell me Palin/McCain is the answer, loudly give me his thoughts on the campaign, or maybe I was parked in his way. He cracked into a big smile and said he had seen Obama car magnets all over (he has been working on replacing damaged pavement) and wondered where he could get one. I explain I got mine for donating, but opened up my trunk and pulled out one of my spares (in case the one on the car was stolen) and gave him one.

Next thing I know he is giving me this huge bear hug and thanking me like I had handed him a million bucks. As he walked away he said....Obama might not win Texas but he is going to be the next president.

I got to the early voting site and well...I guess I did wait too long because the line was LONG. I would guess there were several hundred people in line. Seeing the people there I thought, one...two hour wait easy, and I settled in to play some games on my iPhone. I was surprised by how fast the line was moving. I literally got in and voted in about 20 minutes. They had TONS of voting machines.

While I was glad I got it out of the way and voted early I do have a couple of complaints.

1) Is there ANY emptier feeling then voting on a touch screen voting machine. I absolutely HATE them. We used the punch card ballots in the past and I feel like those were more reliable then pushing a screen and HOPING my vote actually went somewhere.

2) I noticed on the tally page showing WHO I voted for that it did not show any of the party affiliations. That just seemed odd to me. Yes I knew who I was there to vote for but if the affiliation is on the ballot it just seems to me that it should be on the tally screen.

3) Finally, as my partner said as we left.....Geez I get a piece of paper when I use an ATM, how hard would it have been to print a hard copy ballot for me to sign and deposit so there is a hard copy paper trail.

If you haven't voted PLEASE VOTE.

[babylonsister]

1. Thanks for that account, and I'll bet that hug felt good. I'm in TX

and I'm waiting til Tuesday.

[Aloha Spirit]

2. Thanks for the story! You know, the best way to fix electronic voting is your own city council.

Maybe this election will inspire people to participate in their own community politics a little more... I attended my first city council meeting this month! Spoke to the council for two minutes on bike safety.

[AldebTX]

3. The Machines are Chosen at the County Level

I work for a municipality and our dis-satisfaction has been duly noted.

[spin]

4. I would be very hesitant to sign a hard copy...

that contained my vote. Perhaps if the signature was on a portion of the hard copy that I could tear off after I had checked the accuracy of the ballot.

[AldebTX]

5. The Tear off Makes Sense

I just think there should be SOMETHING to recount. I don't trust something that can be changed so easily.

[biscotti]

6. Cool, love to hear these experiences

Yesterday I had the carpets cleaned by a guy I have used about 4 years. After he was in the house for a bit he called to me and said he noticed the big Obama/Biden magnet on the frig. He wanted to know where to get one. I told him where the Obama office was located. I then gave him a bumper sticker and 2 pins. He was thrilled. He said it's not easy being a Democrat in a red state. I told him I think there are more & more of us and it might show up in this years election vote totals.