creekland Posted November 5, 2014 Author Share Posted November 5, 2014 Hubby and I did remember to vote. I was #430. There was absolutely no line, but just a reasonably steady in/out of people. We did spend more time talking than voting. There were only three votes we needed to cast - nothing extra this time. Catching up with some was fun though. I like voting on election day and the weather was perfect here today (not that I got to enjoy it much being inside pretty much all day). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 I rushed there on the way to the kids' gymnastics class. Luckily there was no line. :) I came close to forgetting! I am getting old. So far in 30 years I have only missed one election day, in an odd year when my kids and I were all sick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoxcell Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 I voted a couple weeks ago. We have mail in ballots and I filled mine out the day I received them in the mail. We are in the middle of selling our home so I didn't want to forget or lose them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 Made it with 30 minutes to spare! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 DD has now voted! Woo! We're all done now. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 Voted (with all five children in tow) this afternoon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted November 5, 2014 Author Share Posted November 5, 2014 My candidate choices all won. That's kind of a rare occurrence for me. ;) Now, hopefully, they will be able to do their jobs successfully... and will do what they SAID they planned to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted November 5, 2014 Author Share Posted November 5, 2014 I will have to disagree that there are no repercussions to voting. The aftermath of the school budget vote here historically shows the repercussions. Do remember that officials have a list of who voted...when you live in a small town/rural its pretty easy to take the registration list and eyeball the actual voters to vome up with conclusions. Things like Bridgegate do happen on a smaller level....usually denial of a seat in the honors program, no AP classes, overcrowding certain classes, etc. Wow, we definitely don't get that here. It reminds me of a quote on a poster on a wall at school though: A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves. - Edward R Murrow It would NOT stop me from voting or pushing (if needed) to get what was right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 Huh. I vote, but I don't vote on every issue. The issues I skipped this year were like, should the charter be amended to require a meeting of the garbage committee on the 2nd Wendesday of the third month bla bla bla.... I have no idea why they put crap like that on the ballot, but I am not going to spend time educating myself on the virtues of moving somebody else's meeting to Wednesday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 So my experience voting was quite disturbing. I went in with no valid form of ID. In my state you can just sign an affidavit saying you are you as long as you are on their list. Well i was on the list so I should have just been able to sign it and vote. Not so easy apparently. The woman directing me to where the affidavit was was super suspicious. She asked me if I had anything that had my name on it. I replied "yes, I have debit cards and museum passes and such but those aren't proper forms of ID so I still have to sign the affidavit." I had 3 kids in tow so I wasn't gonna go through my purse for an ID that didn't even matter. She then starts asking me questions like what's my date of birth. I answered and added " but you don't have that info on me so you knowing that info means nothing." I wouldn't have been so annoyed if she hasn't just let someone vote who's only ID was their checkbook, not a valid form of ID. That woman should have had to sign the affidavit as well but nope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Critterfixer Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 They stepped our voter ID up here as well. Wasn't really a biggie, though. I always just stick my driver's license in my front shirt pocket so it's ready to go. And they still asked me name, date of birth and address despite having me on their roll the way they do every election year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 They stepped our voter ID up here as well. Wasn't really a biggie, though. I always just stick my driver's license in my front shirt pocket so it's ready to go. And they still asked me name, date of birth and address despite having me on their roll the way they do every election year. Oh I've never been asked any of that and I see it as quite useless to ask dob because they don't know that. The only info on the roll I'd name, address, development. I don't have any acceptable form of ID so the affidavit should have been enough. And they certainly shouldn't have accepted improper forms of ID over the affidavit. That's what ticks me off. If you are going to work the polls do it properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted November 5, 2014 Author Share Posted November 5, 2014 Totally different here. We know the people working the polls, so we don't even have to give our name. The poll workers know almost everyone (or at least it seems that way). Their mind for faces and names astounds me! I get that they know mine. One is our neighbor and I've had the others' kids in school, but they know so many more people than just me. I get lost trying to remember all the kids in a class (since my classes vary daily and our school has 1200+ kids in the high school). There's no way I'd remember many people I see a couple of times per year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 I recd two phone call reminders to vote. We had an incumbent who lost her seat in the House and is trying to turn out the vote to regain it so plenty of campaigning here. I will have to disagree that there are no repercussions to voting. The aftermath of the school budget vote here historically shows the repercussions. Do remember that officials have a list of who voted...when you live in a small town/rural its pretty easy to take the registration list and eyeball the actual voters to vome up with conclusions. Things like Bridgegate do happen on a smaller level....usually denial of a seat in the honors program, no AP classes, overcrowding certain classes, etc. Wait. Are you in the United States? They have a record of who voted, yes. We do have a secret ballot system in the United States, right? They do not have a record of what you voted. In my state, when we voted at the polls we were checked to see if we were registered by showing our voter registration card. Then we were given a ballot without our name on it. After we voted, that ballot (without our name on it) was put in a sealed box. Now it is mail- in and we sign the envelope to show that we are who we say we are, but the actual ballot does not have our name on it and is separated from the envelope after they receive it and the votes are not matched up with my name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 Wait. Are you in the United States? They have a record of who voted, yes. We do have a secret ballot system in the United States, right? They do not have a record of what you voted. In my state, when we voted at the polls we were checked to see if we were registered by showing our voter registration card. Then we were given a ballot without our name on it. After we voted, that ballot (without our name on it) was put in a sealed box. Now it is mail- in and we sign the envelope to show that we are who we say we are, but the actual ballot does not have our name on it and is separated from the envelope after they receive it and the votes are not matched up with my name. I remember the days of polls - (for those not in WA, everything is now mail-in). even then, they would write the ballot number next to the name in the registration book. now, each ballot still has a number, and our names are on the envelopes when we send them back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 Sure, the politicians don't have a record of how you voted, that is true. However, in many states you must register as either a Democrat or a Republican in order to vote in the primaries. So, they can make a good guess as to how you vote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 So my experience voting was quite disturbing. I went in with no valid form of ID. In my state you can just sign an affidavit saying you are you as long as you are on their list. Well i was on the list so I should have just been able to sign it and vote. Not so easy apparently. The woman directing me to where the affidavit was was super suspicious. She asked me if I had anything that had my name on it. I replied "yes, I have debit cards and museum passes and such but those aren't proper forms of ID so I still have to sign the affidavit." I had 3 kids in tow so I wasn't gonna go through my purse for an ID that didn't even matter. She then starts asking me questions like what's my date of birth. I answered and added " but you don't have that info on me so you knowing that info means nothing." I wouldn't have been so annoyed if she hasn't just let someone vote who's only ID was their checkbook, not a valid form of ID. That woman should have had to sign the affidavit as well but nope. I've lived in 3 states and have never once been asked to produce ID. I think that's absolutely appalling. This is the first year I've really talked to my daughter, who is six, about what I'm voting for any why. I really enjoyed that. We had 4 referendums and I lost 3...... oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2samlibby Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 Wait. Are you in the United States? They have a record of who voted, yes. We do have a secret ballot system in the United States, right? They do not have a record of what you voted. In my state, when we voted at the polls we were checked to see if we were registered by showing our voter registration card. Then we were given a ballot without our name on it. After we voted, that ballot (without our name on it) was put in a sealed box. Now it is mail- in and we sign the envelope to show that we are who we say we are, but the actual ballot does not have our name on it and is separated from the envelope after they receive it and the votes are not matched up with my name. It is a secret ballot with no names, however, the ballots are numbered in our area. The write the number down next to our name, once we are signed in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 It is a secret ballot with no names, however, the ballots are numbered in our area. The write the number down next to our name, once we are signed in. For my state there are instructions specifically designed to maintain the secrecy of the vote. http://www.sos.wa.gov/_assets/elections/auditorsCTP/Protecting_Secrecy_of_the_Vote.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted November 6, 2014 Author Share Posted November 6, 2014 It is a secret ballot with no names, however, the ballots are numbered in our area. The write the number down next to our name, once we are signed in. It's the same in our state (PA), but when we slip the ballot into the machine we tear the part with the number off. We watch as the machine goes up in total number and are supposed to be assured that means our vote is counted. Part of why I like voting on Election Day is I'm not so certain that voting by mail (absentee ballots here) is as accurate. I have visions of ballots going missing in the mail either at the end or in between. It may never happen, of course, but I know I've had OTHER mail get lost occasionally and if there were someone out there wanting to do something, it wouldn't be too difficult to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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