Tuesday, November 08, 2016

Tweet of the Day


I have cast my vote. There was a line of about a half-hour at my polling place, which only happens once every four years. On off years, midterm elections, and primaries I have often been the only voter there at the time. But the sheriff brought a third voting machine while I was in line.

Why do we make it hard for people to vote? The lines are much longer in other places.
In predominantly minority communities, the lines are about twice as long as in predominantly white ones, Mr. Pettigrew has found. And minority voters are six times as likely as whites to wait longer than an hour to vote. Those disparities persist even within the same town or county, suggesting they don’t reflect simply the greater difficulty of putting on elections in populous cities.
 My daughters are voting of the first time. Or, one of them is. Princess was so excited to vote, and ordered her absentee ballot by an internet app about a month ago. Two weeks later when it hadn't arrived, she started calling the county clerk's office. No answer. For three days. It was then too late to register in Georgia, so she is out of luck. After I voted, I asked a poll worker the proper procedure for absentee balloting. She said you either had to call or go by the office. Well, calling doesn't help when no one answers the phone, and going by isn't possible when you are an absentee voter. Maybe next time, sweetheart. Gothgrrl is voting as a Minnesota resident, so not only does she get to vote, easily, but her vote matters more, too.

4 comments:

hearsetrax said...

was in and out inside of 25 mins ....

but then we got lucky jejeje

Barbwire said...

There was one person in line and three inside voting. Three of my grandsons are voting for the first time this year. The oldest is schizophrenic, but that's now under control with a monthly injection, so at 32, he cast his first vote. The other two are 18 and 19.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I didn't have to work today so I went to vote about 3:00 local time this afternoon. I was in and out in less than five minutes; but then, I'm already registered to vote; had my required photo ID; and my birth certificate, HS diploma, DNA test, and blood and urine samples had already been approved. (OK, I'm kidding about that last bit)

There was a bit of a line if you were registering to vote at the polls (Wisconsin still allows this despite the best efforts of the Walker-led, Republican-controlled legislature), but even there it seemed things were running smoothly.

-"BB"-