Reserving my right

I thought I may have to get an ark this morning. It rained a lot more than they said it would yesterday. A lot harder too.

I had planned to vote right after work yesterday. Wisconsin had primaries running. There were a couple of people that I wanted to see take office so I had to make sure they had a chance. Though it was raining hard and I knew I would probably get soaked, a little water wasn't going to deter me.

The way I see it, when you vote, you reserve your right to complain. To complain if your person doesn't win, to complain about the job the victor does, to complain about politics in general. You have exercised a right that many people in this world do not have. Thus, you get to complain if things are not to your liking.

If you don't vote, then shut your yap. You have thrown away the right to complain. You could have affected a change and chose not to. You have no say. Just drink your beer and be quiet.

When I got to my polling place, the rain really started to come down. I was about to leave when I realized I had an umbrella in the trunk. Unfortunately, I knew I would get pretty wet just getting the umbrella out. It was coming down hard. But I had to reserve my right to complain and sacrificed my dry clothes for democracy.

You know, there has to be a better system to voting than what we have currently. I don't know how it may go in your neck of the woods but in Milwaukee, it seems to be run entirely by old retired people. Old, cranky, hard of hearing retired people. You walk in, find your district, give them your name- no ID required, don't want to make sure no one is cheating here!- and two old people look it up in a book. They confirm you are listed in their books and then give you a ballot. Of course you have to say your name 3 times before they hear it and then you have to listen to them complain that one is slower than the other and that they need to tell them what page it is on when they find it. I say we give them some brandy to put them in a much better mood.

There has got to be a better way. They should have a machine that can do it all. Get rid of the old people. Like an ATM. You put your driver's license in the slot, it authenticates who you are, and then you vote. Fast and convenient. You don't have to wait 20 minutes because Fred and Ethel can't find Mr. Swoscykowski in their book. * Plus, it would potentially eliminate voter fraud.
*After I got my ballot yesterday, I could have sworn the next person said their name was Smails. I could help but think "Hmm...Judge Smails kid. Wonder if he picks his nose..."

If not a better machine, then get rid of the old folk running the show. They need to create election duty. Just like jury duty. You get chosen to work that day to run the election in your area as well as attend a couple of training sessions to ensure you know what you are doing. It can't be that hard and it would move along a lot faster.