The elederly showing up in force to vote earlier today, shipped in by minivan. If you're under 30, get moving and vote! My article on the topic is below, though what I didn't mention is that women and young people seem particularly susceptible to voter apathy this year -- and the issues affect you the most. Photo by Eric at the former Kingston Armory in Midtown.
Here is my article from last night, sent to our main list — Too close to call?
I was practicing Election Day standup at the polling place today. First I walked in and said, “Is Joe Biden supposed to be standing so close to the building?” One lady got up from the table before her colleagues explained I must be kidding.
Today was the first day that New York has used digital ballots, on paper where you fill in the circles (not touch screen). My theory as to why we have a better method is we have more lawyers and more college educated people in New York than most places. I voted and they told me to stick my ballot into the machine. I watched it take the thing, and then a confirmation lit up on the LCD panel.
“Dick Cheney?!” I said, looking down at the screen. Everyone got it…
One thing I can say about voting in New York is that the process is taken seriously. The Board of Elections functions and was answering the phone at 7:30 this morning. The lady who got up from the table when I mentioned Biden was actually concerned about the electioneering law — nobody can campaign too close to the polling place. Tough lessons from 2000 AND 2004.
Oh yeah, that was just hilarious about Joe Biden and Dick Cheney (rolls eyes). You’re just like the assholes who come into my Early Voting sites and says “Can I vote again tomorrow? What, you mean this isn’t Chicago? I can’t vote early and often?” Damn I get tired of that after hearing it about 2000 times a week.
I take elections very seriously. I worked at early voting sites, 70 hours a week for 4 weeks, and then 85 hours the last week before Election Day. And I find it insulting when people come in and think that the polls are a place to joke around and make their personal political statement. I’ve ejected people from the polls for electioneering when they won’t stop, hell, I’ve ejected pollworkers for electioneering. It is illegal in every state to make political statements at the polls, and that includes messages meant to discourage people from voting by disparaging the voting process. If you had pulled those stunts at my precinct, you would not have received a ballot, and you would have been asked to leave. If you continued to make political jokes, I would have arrested you personally. Yes, since 2008, Precinct Election Officials have been granted the power of arrest within a polling site. Three days ago, I threatened to arrest a police officer who came into the polls and disrupted voting by telling people they were parked illegally and he was going to tow their cars (they weren’t).
So don’t fuck around with pollworkers. The polls aren’t your personal forum for standup humor. People want to vote, they aren’t there to listen to you.
Len,
Perhaps you should’ve proposed in Oxford and laced it with a sneaky brogue before your tongue got clogged.
Linda
Rand Paul has been projected to win in Kentucky. Applications for position of “thug” being accepted.
Fe – i proposed to my shoe but got turned down. Seems i don’t have enough soul. Probably for the best, who wants to be married to a loafer? Maybe i’ll find somebody more straight-laced who is not a heel.
cmassy
here in CA we can sign up for perma-mail-in-ballots. Kinda nice to sit with it at home for weeks and fill in those little circles properly. Waaaaay better’n’ the SAT.
But I DO kinda miss the flavor of going to the polls.
And I didn’t get an “I Voted” sticker………
i happened to hit my polling place in time to hear a local senior gent in mustache and fedora sing a rendition of “all of me” in a voice that clearly had some quality and training, even if the years have rendered it a little less strong than it once was.
apparently it’s an annual tradition of his, and the regular poll volunteers look forward to it. i’m pleased to say the throng of people waiting and voting and staffing applauded.
i love my quirky little hill!
hopefully the day’s results will be just as pleasant (*fingers crossed*)
I’m in Brooklyn and I just got back about 10 mins. ago.
Gotta tell ya, for those of us over 5__, filling in those little circles is sort of a chore. Just seeing where they are on the paper was a chore! Why yes, I did take the PSAT, SAT and GRE, thank you. And the little circles were easier to find on the paper back then.
But vote I did and now I look to the future with a lot of trepidation. I seriously doubt any legislation will get done in the next 2 years. Shame. Unemployment is probably going higher (U3 & U6) and the safety net, at least here in NY, is getting very thin.
I love that the “Rent is Too Damn High” guy has married his shoe.
Ahh, America.
New York’s governor race is pretty safe. Andrew Cuomo has a strong lead against the would-be vampire messiah. So I voted for Kristin Davis, the madam who was running the call girl operation wherein Elliot Spitzer was snagged. Her platform is basically libertarian — legalize prostitution, legalize cannabis, anyone can get married. She is a protest candidate and I cast a protest vote. I love the “The Rent is Too Damn High” guy — another protest candidate, who has been around the NY pol scene for years.
e
oh, eric! such a trouble-maker.
maine has had that style of machine for a while. they don’t seem too bad, as far as i can tell.
by the way: if you’re really hung up on an issue or candidate, here’s a possible resource:
http://theballot.org/
they have links to voter guides by various non-profit orgs. you may not agree all the way down the ticket, but if there’s a group or two you trust it could mean the difference between getting into the voting booth and staying home out of indecision.
Nancy at Starlight News has a new post up about the midterms.
Things might not turn out so bad as they all say, but that means we need to get our asses out there to vote like our lives depend on it. Because they do.
Or as Andy Borowitz says,
As you head to the polls today, please keep these three things in mind:
1) Don’t be intimidated by electronic voting machines. There are simple instructions in English, Spanish, and Tea Party.
2) Your vote is precious. Politicians have spent billions trying to buy it.
3) Please vote because every vote is counted. (Offer not available in Florida.)