Voting

I voted today. I am embarrassed to admit that this is the first time I've voted since I moved to the new district. Yes. I know I'm an dumbass for not participating, but for most of the previous few elections I either had something come up that prevented me from voting or I didn't really have something that would draw me to the polls. Why bother voting for or against something that doesn't effect you? This time is different. I suspect that this will be one of the highest voter turnouts in years. I also suspect that next time will probably be back to the status quo. I'm wondering if a system like Oregon's mail-in ballots might help to alleviate voter indifference. It is my understanding that Oregon can boast one of the highest voter participation rates in the country. I'm sure that I'd vote more often if I automatically had a ballot mailed to me and all I had to do was fill it out.

One of the other things that I noticed was that the required distance between the poll and electioneering is only 25 feet. That meant that there were weirdos next to the poll entrance trying to convince me to vote against proposition 2. It also meant that there were signs right outside the door. The funny thing was that there were competing signs right next to one another.

Finally, there was a lot less privacy than what I'm used to when voting. Not that I care if people see what I voted for, but I thought it was supposed to be a secret ballot. We just went into a gymnasium and filled out our Scantron ballots. We weren't shoulder to shoulder, but if I wanted to, I could have looked up and seen exactly what the guy next to me was voting for.