I Voted

And I got the kewl sticker. An interesting experience. My polling place is a church. I drove past the church this morning after driving my dog to daycare and my wife to work. The lawn next to the parking area was filled with a forest of political signs.

Took my wife out to lunch (learned that Ziggy's on North Glenstone is moving next door to the old Chinese buffet place) and then to vote. The signs were gone. Every one of them. Turns out that churches have the option to NOT have signs at the polling place. But they can't be selective. The church must either allow any and all signs, or none.

No wait to vote, no problem with the registration, although the poll worker needs to look at names a bit more carefully. She couldn't find mine because she didn't read it correctly and reversed the second and third letter.

Got my ballot and the worker carefully explained how to draw a line so the scanner would read it properly, and made a point of telling me the ballot was on both sides of the paper. Even flipped it over when she handed it to me so that I could see. Found an empty seat--all voting is done at a table at this precinct. Not much privacy, really. But I'm not too worried about it. Made my selections, checked to make sure I made a choice for each office and ballot issue, and took my ballot to the scanner. Slipped it in carefully, following the instructions. . .and the machine spit it back out with a loud beeping noise.

Aha! Voter fraud! For a brief moment I thought I was going to have a real story to tell. I thought I'd have proof that electronic voting machines are error-prone.

The kindly old poll worker said "wait! Don't touch it!" Looked at the print out on the machine and said that the ballot must have gone in at an angle. Sure, blame me. She told me to stay right where I was, but not to touch the ballot, and asked if I would allow her to over-ride the machine. I said yes, she pressed a button, and away went my ballot. The number changed on LED screen, so I assume my ballot was read. No way to know for certain. And that does bother me a bit.

No one else had a problem with the scanner taking their ballot, including my wife. So perhaps it was just a simple error. But if McCaskill loses by one vote, I'm demanding a recount!

Oh, and I had to write-in people for three judge-ships since no Democrats were running. This year I simply refused to vote for a Republican, even though I think some of them are doing a good job. Shocking, I know.

I think the Chatter guy, Granny Geek, and Snarling Marmot will make excellent judges.