Hi Clappy,
Before I reply to your post, I'd like to comment on the ongoing debate tonight on the Florida debacle..... although I am concerned about the problems that may have occurred in my district in PA (see below), these problems, Florida's problems & all others of this nature throughout the country need to be corrected for the next election. Any & all votes cast yesterday should stand as originally voted. If each & every perceived & real problem is allowed to be fought in the courts &/or used to allow folks to vote a second time it will open pandora's box.... more problems will arise than will be solved IMVHO. In the end each side will argue their guy should have won...... many of those on the losing side will cry foul..... but unless their is some clear fraud or laws clearly violated, no second chance to vote should be allowed.
I hope that when the Florida vote is official that the electoral college will cast their votes by the Rule of Law & choose the next president without any other consideration factored in. I also hope that the losing party takes the high road & abides by the Rule of Law & works to correct any real or perceived problems for future elections.
BWTFDIK
This election our district switched to an electronic ballot. I must admit it was intimidating to go into the booth & not see the old lever machine.
As you indicated, I felt pressure to finish quickly as there was a long line of folks to vote & only four booths. There was no warning about the electronic system anywhere. nor was it made public prior to the election.
There was a lengthy two page set of instructions pasted to the wall of the voting booth..... that was the first indication to voters that things had changed...... an electronic, touch screen, multi page system..... I felt fortunate that I could figure out what I needed to do to properly vote..... I still have no idea how I would have made a write in vote, even though each choice (prez, senator, etc,) had a place for one.... but no keyboard or electronic handwriting capability - touch screen to highlight your choice only........
However, after figuring out how to use this new system, I felt I spent all of my perceived "alloted" voting time understanding the new system..... I felt rushed to make my choices..... & I could not write in vote for Jethro Tull for those offices where I had no idea who was the better choice :-o
The most troubling aspect of the experience was that I am somewhat able to navigate new electronic gadgets...... that certainly is not true for a large portion of the population. I'm sure that many folks voted for the wrong person by accident &/or failed to vote at all in some cases..... the touch screen highlighted the candidate's name when you touched it, but was sensitive enough to deselect it quickly or highlight another candidate if touched even lightly.....
Ö¿Ö |
