March 15, 2008 at 11:44:58
The DIY Ballot
by miles mathis (Posted by miles mathis) Page 1 of 4 page(s)
http://www.opednews.comMy family has always had initiative and a pretty good sense of humor to go with it. I remember when I was a kid, I went to Baskin-Robbins with my uncle. They had a big sign over the counter that said “banana split: 99 cents.” Thing is, my uncle had been in several times that week, and they were always out of bananas. But we strolled up to the counter and he ordered a banana split anyway. As expected, the young woman said, “Sorry, sir, we’re out of bananas today.” So my uncle pulled a banana out of his pocket, laid it on the counter, and said, “There you go, sweetie, let ’er rip! And don’t forget to give me a discount for bringing my own banana.”
This story is a good one to lead with, I think, because that banana is sort of like democracy, and that Baskin-Robbins is a lot like our government. They are always advertising something, but they always seem to be out of it. They tell us about all these voting rights we are supposed to have, for instance, but when you get to the polls, they are always fresh out. I went to the polls last in 2006, and I wanted to write-in a name that wasn’t on the ballot. WE THE PEOPLE have always been able to do that. I have done it in many past elections when there wasn’t anyone worth voting for on the given list. This time I was told I wasn’t allowed to do that. I called a precinct person over and she told me that only “official” write-ins were allowed. To be an official write-in candidate, that candidate had to register with the State and pay a fee. I said that pretty much destroyed the whole idea of a write-in. A write-in that the voter can’t “write-in” in not really a write-in, is it? It should be up to me to choose who to write in, not the State or some registrar. I told the precinct person that I would just write-in my candidate myself. But she said I couldn’t do that. The machine couldn’t read it. If I wrote anything on the ballot, they would have to discard it. I told them that it was illegal for them to discard a ballot, and that my writing on it was not an illegal or disqualifying act. How could a voter marking a ballot be considered a disqualifying act? That would make “a voter voting” a disqualifying act. It’s not like I was defacing the ballot, or drawing smiley faces or lewd cartoons on it. I was writing a name on it, which by the definition of “voting” is voting. I said that I was a legal voter, and I had a legal right to present a ballot and have it counted. I told her I didn’t care a fig for her machines. If the machines can’t read write-ins, then write-ins need to be read by human beings who can read them.
She didn’t appreciate the crushing logic of this and decided it was easier to ignore me from there on out. I left the polling place without being able to exercise my right to vote, but this did not appear to concern her or anyone else in the room. Despite being decades younger than all the precinct workers, I was seen by them to be hopelessly outdated, a person of the past. I was not up with the times, and could be ignored as a non-person, with non-rights.
Despite this, I remain certain that I was correct. What is more, I now believe that I have tripped across the easy answer to all our voting problems--not just this one but every last one of them. Just as my uncle cut straight through the Baskin-Robbins blockade with his banana, with one simple and logical action, we can cut through every possible blockade at the polling place with one simple and logical action--an action that cannot be countered.
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http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_miles_ma_080314_the_diy_ballot.htm
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