I want to vote at the polls darnit!
I am trying hard to keep my language under control here but I am hopping mad that now my polling place in Hopland has been eliminated for the November election. I have said it before and I will say again - and until my face turns blue - Marsha Wharff is wrong wrong wrong to force this county into mail balloting for her convenience. Before we had any such thing as an electronic voting machine, we managed to mark ballots, drop them in boxes and count them on election night. Our county has not grown significantly in the election where people go to the polls and vote and then actually count those votes in a timely manner and publish the results at the end of the niight. Now we have voting machines we can't trust, a county clerk determined to make us all into anonymous digits, and an election counting system so apparently complex that results are often days if not weeks away from the actual balloting. On election day I want to go to a polling place and vote. I don't want Marsha to send me my "I voted" sticker in the mail. That's just condescending. I want to look on the voters list and see if my husband remembered to vote on his way to work. I want to see my neighbors and talk to the pollw orkers and get their anecdotes about how it's going and what the turnout is like. Marsha Wharff is single-handedly destroying all that in this county and I really really resent it.
Note to Janie, the water story should be on the site. We upload all our local stories, If something is missing, call our online editor Brittany Dashiell at 468-3515. I would do it myself but I am in Annapolis for a family wedding.
Speaking of Annapolis, my husband and I got in late last night and checked into the hotel and made a beeline straight for the bar for a nightcap. After a few minutes a young man walked in, sat down, ordered a beer, and proceeded to light a cigarette. It was such a strange experience for a Californian to see anyone lighting up indoors. As an ex-smoker it didn't bother me and he was far enough away that I really couldn't smell it, but it was like being taken back in time.
Speaking of traveling: I just love JetBlue! They are so nice, the seats have more room (those of you who know me know I need it) and I can watch the food channel the whole way if I want. I am a bit of a nervous flyer so when it gets bumpy there is nothing that keeps my mind occupied better than watching the Barefoot Contessa make grilled tuna and homemade coconut marshmallows.
Comments
A wonderful rant, which I forwarded to Marsha Wharff along with my own mini-rant on ignoring the law.
Will Marsha listen?
Posted by: Janie Sheppard | September 21, 2007 11:18 AM
Voting Places,
As a young girl the local voting place was my grade school. Having flags outside, adults that weren't teachers and all of our parents showing up at school to vote was a great way to teach the students about government. It gave me the opportunity to see democracy in action. At times my father would volunteer to "man" the polling place and I was proud that he felt strong enough about democracy to give up a day of pay to do it. Being around a polling place, talking about government and the issues at such a young age resulted in me majoring in Political Science in high school.
With the polling places quickly disappearing - will the youth of today be forced to learn about democracy solely from electronic media?
Posted by: Vanessa Vachon | September 21, 2007 01:58 PM
I couldn't agree with you more about the elimination of polling places. We lost ours at the Community Center in Brooktrails a few years ago.
I was proud to drive to the Community Center, making it a part of other errands that day. A flag was mounted outside to mark the occasion and, for the most part, elderly neighbors manned the tables, making sure everything was above board and handled correctly. I said "hello" to friends and saw real democracy at work, thriving really.
An arbitrary decision by someone in power too long took all of that away. (Wasn't the previous County Clerk, Viola Richardson, Wharff's aunt?)
Posted by: Gail Richards | September 23, 2007 01:52 PM
I agree that we lose a sense of community without our local polling place. For many years the ritual and right of voting at the Presbyterian church gave me a sense of belonging.
Also "wrong" is the ability to vote via mail so early that many of the issues and candidates positions are not fully understood.
Bring back the polling places!
Posted by: mike mayfield | October 3, 2007 09:40 PM