The Voting Snafu

The Democratic party of New Mexico did a very poor job setting up for the Caucus yesterday. They estimated about 7% of the registered voters would go to the polls. Boy, were they wrong. About 2 hours after the polls opened at noon, most precincts were out of ballots.

Oh for the days when we had those push button voting machines!!! There were lines waiting at all polling places that stretched around the blocks and at a snails pace in the icy winds!! It took til well after 10 last night before all the people lined up at the polling places got to get inside and vote. Polls were to close at 7!!!

From the time I was in the 4th grade New Mexico had electronic type voting machines up until the last election!! The first ones I remember were huge boxes with curtains on the front. You went in and threw the little switches and opened the curtain for the next person. That is over 50 years of something working nearly correctly most of the time. Since the mess up with the "hanging chads in Florida" we have been tossed back in time to paper ballots.

Some people do not know how to make a solid block with a pencil, so the electronic readers toss the ballot back out. It takes time to fill in each of those little blocks, go back and check that you didn't miss a crucial one then go feed the thing the proper way around to the electronic reader.

Printing all that paper is nonsense!!! A total waste of forests and recycled paper also. In the age of computers, with most people having cell phones and microwave ovens, why do we have to go back to the PAPER ballots??

Everyone can read a notation next to a button and push the yes or no button!!! If they can't they should not be voting without a seeing eye dog and a caregiver. The law allows for an assistant to help a person vote. All they have to do is sign an affidavit at the Election Judges station. I assisted my grandmother and several other ladies for the last 20 years to read and vote.

Come on People!!! This is the 21st century!! Voting lines running around the block and the fire Marshall making sure there are not too many people standing in a school's halls is totally ridiculous. With only one question on the ballot it should have taken about half a minute for each to vote!!!