Voting Accomplished!
Bad idea #1: Show up to vote when the elementary school kids are being dropped off.
Bad idea #2: Wear a t-shirt, shorts, and sandals in 55 degree weather while waiting outside for 45 minutes.
I'm not really complaining, cause the wait didn't seem annoying long, it didn't make me really late for work, and I haven't caught a cold (yet). But I could've made it easier on myself.
I left the polling place thinking the same thing I did the last time I voted, which isn't anything like "I did my civic duty," or "I'm proud I participated in the democratic process," but more like "I should be an election volunteer next time so I can help to make the voting process as painless as possible for everyone." There isn't anything terribly bad about how it went, but there are simple things they could do to make it run smoother. For instance, if the line is splitting A-M and N-Z, of course have that posted at the tables where they look up your name, but if the lines actually separate farther back (where you can't see the tables), post some signs there so people know why its splitting and which line they're supposed to be in. By the time I left, an election volunteer was guiding people to the right line, but if he just put up a sign there he could spend his time helping in more meaningful ways.
Also, have someone work the line telling people things like what they need to vote, or if they're at the right place to vote. This one poor woman waited in line an hour before finding out she was at the wrong place. Someone shouting "Make sure your card says voting precinct #xxx. If you're not sure, ask me." could have saved her some grief. They could also hand out the paper ballots for people to review, so they could possibly save time when they get to the booth (they are available near the voting booths, but people don't know that until they get that far up in the line). And, if they could find some reliable way to figure out how long the wait in line is taking, that would be nice. I guess all of these suggestions are really only relevant when its busy, but that is when people will get the most annoyed if things aren't running smoothly. Again, I'm not complaining, things went fine... but they could go better.
I can't do anything about this as a volunteer, but I don't like the computer tablet voting format. Its just not intuitive enough to use a rotating dial to navigate and select. These proprietary computer systems just complicate matters. I can understand why they wouldn't want to use a windows or mac platform, but why must there be a proprietary user interface as well? Why not choose a UI that at least *someone* is familiar with? Like a mouse and pointer. Or a touch screen. We used optical scan the last time I voted in Minneapolis, and that's an okay system, too. I think everyone understands how to mark a box with a pen. But I can see how the dial could confound some people, though.
Another problem with the computer system is that the summary screens (where you check your work) show who you voted for and for what, but don't show the party affiliation. This makes it hard to check your ballot if you weren't familiar enough with some candidates and voted by party on some races.
Pardon my ramble. I voted. I voted successfully.
Those of you who know me know I don't talk politics much, but I'm really close to writing an entry on why I voted the way I did. We'll see!
PS Go vote!
Bad idea #2: Wear a t-shirt, shorts, and sandals in 55 degree weather while waiting outside for 45 minutes.
I'm not really complaining, cause the wait didn't seem annoying long, it didn't make me really late for work, and I haven't caught a cold (yet). But I could've made it easier on myself.
I left the polling place thinking the same thing I did the last time I voted, which isn't anything like "I did my civic duty," or "I'm proud I participated in the democratic process," but more like "I should be an election volunteer next time so I can help to make the voting process as painless as possible for everyone." There isn't anything terribly bad about how it went, but there are simple things they could do to make it run smoother. For instance, if the line is splitting A-M and N-Z, of course have that posted at the tables where they look up your name, but if the lines actually separate farther back (where you can't see the tables), post some signs there so people know why its splitting and which line they're supposed to be in. By the time I left, an election volunteer was guiding people to the right line, but if he just put up a sign there he could spend his time helping in more meaningful ways.
Also, have someone work the line telling people things like what they need to vote, or if they're at the right place to vote. This one poor woman waited in line an hour before finding out she was at the wrong place. Someone shouting "Make sure your card says voting precinct #xxx. If you're not sure, ask me." could have saved her some grief. They could also hand out the paper ballots for people to review, so they could possibly save time when they get to the booth (they are available near the voting booths, but people don't know that until they get that far up in the line). And, if they could find some reliable way to figure out how long the wait in line is taking, that would be nice. I guess all of these suggestions are really only relevant when its busy, but that is when people will get the most annoyed if things aren't running smoothly. Again, I'm not complaining, things went fine... but they could go better.
I can't do anything about this as a volunteer, but I don't like the computer tablet voting format. Its just not intuitive enough to use a rotating dial to navigate and select. These proprietary computer systems just complicate matters. I can understand why they wouldn't want to use a windows or mac platform, but why must there be a proprietary user interface as well? Why not choose a UI that at least *someone* is familiar with? Like a mouse and pointer. Or a touch screen. We used optical scan the last time I voted in Minneapolis, and that's an okay system, too. I think everyone understands how to mark a box with a pen. But I can see how the dial could confound some people, though.
Another problem with the computer system is that the summary screens (where you check your work) show who you voted for and for what, but don't show the party affiliation. This makes it hard to check your ballot if you weren't familiar enough with some candidates and voted by party on some races.
Pardon my ramble. I voted. I voted successfully.
Those of you who know me know I don't talk politics much, but I'm really close to writing an entry on why I voted the way I did. We'll see!
PS Go vote!
posted by PlaysByEar at 3:12 PM
1 Comments:
I gave up voting for years because of the wait. Now out here I am a permanent absentee voter so do it by mail. Of course then there's the issue about whether absentee ballots get counted. Also, California being light years ahead of any other state, counties mail out a sample ballot with arguments pro and con so a person has plenty of time and information with which to do it right. The downsides of registering to vote as I see it are being called for jury duty, although they do it off drivers license lists too, and the unbelievable amount of campaign mail you get. Like at least one piece a day and often more for over a month it seemed like.
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