How we vote - not who!

[gearchow]

So here in Oregon, we vote by mail in ballot. I can appreciate the convenience and like it as an option, but I really do miss going to a polling place. Back in Santa Cruz, I used to walk the couple of blocks to one of the neighborhood churches, say hi to all the happy old folks, vote and put the ballot into the box. I enjoyed it immensely. I was looking forward to being one of those happy old folk. Mail in ballots just aren't the same.

When I first voted in Florida, you went behind the curtain and there was a big old machine that had levers that you had to set and then a lever that you had to pull to submit your vote. Wonderful.

-jim

 

[Mike H]

About 45 minutes in line, filled out a paper ballot, and walked it over to an electronic scanner.

 

[Gordy2]

Yea, I remember those old cumbersome noisy machines, real manual steampunk there. Voted early to avoid the rush, which there apparently is country wide.

 

[jmsodpc]

I had the curtain and lever system.
Will go and vote in three hours and see if
the system is updated.

 

[Toothpick]

i've always voted with the paper ballot, either punching out a chad or filling in the square, and back in 08' i only had to walk down to the end of my block to my poling place. in and out in less than 15 minutes, it was great. moved to Tennessee last year, and decided to vote early this year. while i certainly don't mind waiting in line to vote, i didn't like the fact that they used an electronic ballot with no option to "write in" your vote. i may be wrong but i also only noticed 4 nominees to choose from which clearly makes no sense. i knew who i was voting for and i made my choice but i did not like the set up at all.

 

[dpm802]

We have a curtained booth with a digital selection system. Pushing a button next to the candidates' names will light up an "X" showing they have been selected. Finally, a "CAST VOTE" button at the lower right hand corner finalizes all selections and makes it official.

The polling place is a couple of blocks away, in a general-purpose community hall. I could have walked there if the weather were warmer, but I caught a ride over with my roommate and then we came back home.

Its been a good many years since I had a levered system. I don't really have a preference for one way or the other, just glad that I have the opportunity to make my voice heard.

 

[Agravic]

local church, electronic voting machine, not busy at all when I checked in at 07:15

 

[ackvil]

Well, Jim, now in Florida most folks use the early voting procedure with mail in ballots.

When I first moved to Florida I was surprised to see how lax the voting procedure was. We had a senior housing community in the town I lived in (Delray Beach). The first time I voted in Delray there were two elderly people in front of me. They were accompanied by a much younger person. They acted as if they had no idea where they were or what they were doing. The younger person went into the booth with them and, most likely, pulled the voting levers for them!

 

[P Funk]

We have electronics in my area of the south bay. But I've been voting absentee for a few years now - actually dropped off my ballot yesterday. My wife did hers last week.

 

[Nick Danger]

Polling place in the lobby of my high rise. 10 minute wait. Paper ballot. No curtain, not even a "privacy folder" to conceal my ballot when I'd finished (they didn't have enough of them). Used a pen to fill in the arrow next to each candidate's name. Really brought out my OCD as I tried to make each line straight and even.

Nick

 

[Duckster]

I voted today. Paper ballot (fill in the ovals with a black marker) and then feed it into a scanner.

All this mail-in and early voting makes me uneasy. Seems like it could be more vulnerable to voter fraud, but I could be wrong.

 

[ouch]

I always vote twice. I deserve an extra vote.

 

[noahpictures]

Instead of mailing my ballot, I waited about thirty minutes in line to drop it off at the polling place. Pretty cool. The previous election I mailed my ballot.

 

[Agravic]

I always vote twice. I deserve an extra vote.

Ha!

 

[SalvadorMontenegro]

I'm having a real hard time with it, because all of my personalities are deadlocked.

 

[Galengwath]

All sorts of choices in Colorado. A majority, this year, chose to vote by mail, but less than an hour ago I drove to my neighborhood polling place, where I first voted at age 18, and was given the choice between an electronic voting machine. Perhaps it's the traditionalist in me, but I opted to fill in little boxes with black ink. It just feels more satisfying.

 

[smalltank]

why isnt online voting an option?..I heard its out there..but very limited areas

 

[noahpictures]

All sorts of choices in Colorado. A majority, this year, chose to vote by mail, but less than an hour ago I drove to my neighborhood polling place, where I first voted at age 18, and was given the choice between an electronic voting machine. Perhaps it's the traditionalist in me, but I opted to fill in little boxes with black ink. It just feels more satisfying.

+1

Hopefully we'll always have this option.

 

[channy]

why isnt online voting an option?..I heard its out there..but very limited areas

Like with every thing that involves the government, it takes time.

I just used that right to vote law and got away from work for 2 hours. We have electronic voting here in California.

 

[oc_in_fw]

We have a curtained booth with a digital selection system. Pushing a button next to the candidates' names will light up an "X" showing they have been selected. Finally, a "CAST VOTE" button at the lower right hand corner finalizes all selections and makes it official.

The polling place is a couple of blocks away, in a general-purpose community hall. I could have walked there if the weather were warmer, but I caught a ride over with my roommate and then we came back home.

Its been a good many years since I had a levered system. I don't really have a preference for one way or the other, just glad that I have the opportunity to make my voice heard.

I prefer paper- those electronic machines are too easy to hack, and there is no physical proof of your vote. If I buy a taco at Taco Bell, the Diebold cash register can offer proof that I bought tacos. Diebold voting machines, on the other hand, don't.