What a gong show...

5:59am - I arrive at polling place and wait 5 minutes while the lady at the front desk figures out what room I am supposed to vote in for my precinct.

6:04am - I find the room and go to check in. Told that I was "too early" and they needed a few more minutes to prepare. Told to wait out in the hall.

6:10am - Admitted to the table to vote. A man had cut in front of me in line and was the first person to the table. They gave him an I.D. card and told him to step down to the next station to log in in order to use one of the Sequoia touchscreen devices. All five of the officials gather around to assist him in figuring out how to sign in. Nobody knows how to operate the machine. Nobody is assisting the 20+ people who are now lined up waiting to vote.

6:20am - An older gentleman finally turns to me, then turns away and asks where to put the stack of paper ballots on the table. Another gentleman who seems to be in charge tells him to keep them for people who want to use a paper ballot.

6:21am - I speak up and say, "I am one of those people, I would like a paper ballot." The Man In Charge stops Older Gentleman and looks me in the eye and says, "You don't want to use those, the machine is easier." I reply, "Nah, I'll use paper, thanks."

6:22am - Man In Charge looks away and says, "No, use the machine, it will be quicker." and then turns to walk away. I reply with, "I want to make sure there is a record of my vote." The Man In Charge turns back, looks me in the eye and says, "You don't get to take it with you, so it doesn't really matter." I stand up straight, stare right back at him and say, "But at least I know it exists should there be any 'issues' later."(See post entitled 'Vote Manipulation') The Man In Charge rolls his eyes and grunts to The Older Gentleman, and then walks away.

6:25am - I turn to find a voting table and notice there are no pens at any of the stations. I find The Man In Charge and ask for a pen. He hands me a bright yellow stylus from the touchscreen machines and says, "Here you go." I pointed out the fact that the tip of this instrument was solid plastic and not for writing (a fact he was well aware of because I saw him explaining it The Older Gentleman a few minutes prior when he complained that his pen was not working.) The Man In Charge snapped back with, "No, you use this on your ballot," and then turned and walked away to assist someone else.

6:26am - I find a woman at the end of the table and ask if there are any pens for paper ballots. I explain to her that the instrument I was given was a plastic stylus and had no way to make markings. She apologized and gave me a black felt tipped-pen from a bundle on her end of the table.

6:27am - I step to an empty booth and fill out my 2 page ballot. Page 1 consists of my choice for President, Senate, Congress and then a few other candidates and positions which I did not cast a vote for because I was unaware of their platforms after searching all over the internet for details. Page 2 consists of my choices for Delegates to the Convention. Page 2 is what I care about.

6:29am - I notice the top of my ballot asks for a precinct number and initials by an official. I call over Lady With Pens to ask if these fields need to be filled out by them before I scan the ballots. She takes my completed ballots to the main table where everyone else is standing in line and checking in and stamps and initials it. At least two voters at the table glance at my sheets and then look me in the face, (a sign that they have seen my vote.) Not a big deal, I had signs in the windows of my car outside indicating my voting intentions, but it seems like it is still improper.

6:30am - I ask Lady With Pens to make sure the optical scan machine is ready for use (as I am the first person using it this morning.) She shuts the door on the side of the machine and tells me to insert my ballot. The machine quickly sucks in page 1, and then just as quickly lights up to alert me that there is a "Ballot Jam." Lady With Pens begins cursing under her breath and then wanders off to find a user manual for the machine to find out what the error means.

6:33am - I poke and prod around with the optical scanner in an attempt to find the jam. I don't do too much touching so as not to commit any kind of violation that Man In Charge can nail me with to make sure I don't get to complete the voting process.

6:35am - Lady With Pens shows back up with the user manual to the machine and discovers that nothing in the book addresses the error "Ballot Jam." I inform her that the paper receipt which printed out after the initial scan says "Ballot Jam in Rear." She pokes around the back of the scanner and then tells me she sees a sheet of paper. She loosens it and it falls down into the box. The machine then tells me it is ready for the next sheet.

6:37am - My 2nd ballot feeds through just fine and the machine informs me that the sheet was registered. Voting process complete.


That was my experience this morning, nearly 45 minutes to cast a vote for 1 President, 1 Senator, 1 Congressman and 6 Delegates. The place was extremely disorganized and it seemed that nobody working there knew how the process was supposed to work. The fact that the man running the show was very down on the idea of my use of a paper ballot bothers me a lot. The fact that the people did not know how to use the machine is concerning as well. The fact that the machine jammed on the first ballot is also worrisome.

All in all, today's hangups only reinforce my belief that the entire voting process is a sham, and that these things are set up and staged in advance.

I will continue to vote, because I would like to remain an optimist, but it is getting more and more difficult to think that way with the more I learn and experience.