I am voting now. Right after I whittle down my Dixon(r) No.2 school boy pencil, I'll be reading the last pass of comments FOR and comments AGAINST and I will be voting for candidates and ballot measures.
Issues aside, this is about the mechanics, the technology, the participation and the Democracy of Oregon. While we may not be a behemoth in technology like our neighbor to the North, nor the agricultural powerhouse like our neighbor to the South, I believe that Oregon is the nation's leader in participatory Democracy
I explain under the fold...
While other states wring hands over Deibold equipment and argue the finer points of receipts, Oregon is the unsung leader in Democracy in this country. We have paper ballots. We have verification processes. We have the 3rd highest voter turn out in the country. We have citizen initiatives. We have a true Democratic public decision making process.
While many may criticize our initiative process for being weird or being suceptible to the influences of money and crack pot ideas and even occasional bad decisions, it is Democratic and it is participatory. And that is what we are - of the people, by the people, and for the people. Warts and all.
So, now my friends, while you anxiously await the opening of the polls, while you anxiously tap the touch screen and check and double check and double-double check to make sure Mr Deibold didn't goof, while you wait in lines, and dodge exit pollster, I will have voted in the peace and quiet of my home, with the pondering and figuring at my own pace, with the ballot and the Internet at my side, to make calm and informed decisions.
I urge you all to learn about the Oregon vote by mail method and bring it to your state. It solves the problems.
Now where's that pencil. It needs a new point sitting there in my desk for these 2 years.