Yes, my California ballot contained

• 2 federal races,
• 2 state races,
• 4 local races (including some like school board where you can vote for up to 4 people per race),
• 1 county ballot initiative,
• 3 district ballot initiatives, and
• 12 state propositions

all described in 3 different booklets the state mailed me

• the aforementioned 100 page ballot pamphlet for state initiatives,
• as well as a smaller booklet containing the sample ballot and details on the local propositions,
• and then a 3rd one which contained details of one of the propositions which was replaced by a different one after the original cut-off date.

That being said, I had about a 1 minute (or less) wait at sign-in, there were 4 voting booths (all empty) plus two big tables where people could sit down and spread their booklets out if they didn't mind others watching them vote. So it was geared up for a much bigger crowd than the one that was there when I was.

They had like 10 or 12 pollworkers and only 1 or 2 voters.

I went with my already marked sample ballot in hand and was in and out in 16 minutes. More on that in next post.

Just so you don't think I only complain about electronic balloting,
here's my whining about the paper ones.

Why did it take me 16 minutes to fill in my ballot even though I already had all my selections pre-marked on my "sample ballot"?

Fortunately, we ditched the electronic voting machines several elections back.
(California has another election seemingly every 6 hours.)

Well, (1) I always triple-check ballots just like I do tax forms
(according to Dan W as well as empirical evidence from the State of Florida most people can't be
so bothered to spend a little extra time on these little things like death, war, and taxes),
and (2) I had one of those "draw the line between two arrows" ballots.

Strangely, there was some interaction between the roller in the ballpoint pen and the ink on the left half of the arrow.
On every single line (drawing left to right), the pen would pick up a little wax(?) or otherwise be confused
by skipping down off the ballot ink and it would leave a small gap before the start of the line.

I.e., the whole point of this ballot is to provide an unbroken line from one side to the other.
But the pen left a small gap on the left side of every line.
So I had to go back and ink in the gap.

Kind of weird. And I assume this is not at all a common problem.
Just worth whining about a little bit.

Further complaints, as I have mentioned here before, all of our ballots go into an unlocked cardboard box!
I suppose that's better than the false sense of security I'd get if they went into a locked metal box to which every single pollworker had the key....
But still, paper ballot security is non-existent at my polling station, other than that I got to tear a numbered receipt off of the end of my ballot.

I think I had mentioned here that in previous elections, the pollworker would look at your ballot as he placed it into the cardboard box.
That was remedied a while back with a confidentiality sleeve that you wrap around the ballot as you personally drop it into the cardboard box.

Now the pollworkers have to wait to read and/or modify your ballot until after you leave!

It ain't over 'til it's over, but the networks are calling Ohio for Obama, and McCain can't win without Ohio unless there's some sudden influx of conservatives in California and the Pacific NW that I'm unaware of.

TV projections have certainly been wrong before, but if they're right, this one is over. I will not be cracking open my celebratory beer until I see some 100% reporting numbers in the close states, tho.

Looks to be over now. Concession speech from McCain, and clearly not a repeat of the disaster that was the 2000 election process.

Well, I stand corrected. States I was sure would go to McCain, like New Mexico, went blue. Ohio? Who would have thunk it. This is about as close to a "landslide" as you can get in our electoral system.

I'm unhappy that California passed its poorly-named gaybasher law, but I don't live there anymore so I can just pretend I didn't know about it.

It was a great speech, and I'm delighted to have experienced this day. I'm left with a lot of hope for our country's future.

So you're calling that one with only 20% of the voting precincts reporting?

Well, looks like the fantastic joke that was Sarah can now go back to her town hall in Wasilla. Oh, you say she's still governor? Ouch!


Yeah, not exactly the party of Lincoln, is it? I have to remind myself that the Democrats were just as bad or worse through most of the 20th century.

I don't know if I can generalize about current-day Republicans but it is clear that a good chunk of them are stuck celebrating ignorance and "averageness". Heaven forbid that we should have a president who is *smart*. I would say that I was being harsh and snooty if not for the comments of conservatives like David Brooks:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/08/david-brooks-sarah-palin_n_133001.html

I can remember a time when the notion of conservative Republicans wasn't a cruel joke. Like 1964. Barry Goldwater. Seriously. You might not have agreed with Barry, but he wasn't an ignoramus.

I was so caught up by the notion of having somebody smart elected as president that my hand slipped -- my pen tried to mark down a vote for the Green Party candidate but it made a mark for Barack Obama instead. I hope he appreciates that. This man has his work cut out for him. He now has a lot of people who will be waiting for "Change" and who can be easily disappointed.

Strangely, as much as some folks decried left-wing Bush "haters", I never heard about radicals who were stalking the ignoramus-in-chief. By contrast, I fear that the inbred enemies of a President Obama won't be quite so subtle. I really, really hope that we can celebrate this victory but I expect that the Secret Service will need to be in top form.

Why celebrate? Not sure I can celebrate, really, but an Obama victory does provide a small amount of reassurance....that, unlike 2000 (or 2004?) that the election wasn't stolen. This time.

Ah yes, thank. I never really put it together before. Hatred toward all… condescending attitude… blaming them for all your problems … scapegoats, got it.

So here's a question. It took forty-five years' civil-rights work to get from MLK having a dream, to Obama living that dream. How long will it take from California Proposition 8 until the first LGBT president? These exit polls by age group seem to indicate that, again, it'll take about a generation.

Peter

Huh?

He must be refering to the official gay-bashing in California.

The results still indicate to me that the US is rife with bigots and idiots. Don't get me wrong, Canada is too, it just doesn't have as visible (and loud) an election process.

I still can't for the life of me wrap my brain around how anyone with a right mind would vote McCain unless they were paid large sums of money to do so, blackmailed to do so or threatened with serious bodily harm to do so.

Fear I think motivates many. That can lead to hate and all sorts of nasty things.

Yeah, exit polls said that the biggest indicator of voting for McCain was if terrorism was your primary concern.

With the CA gay marriage ban likely to pass, it's certainly a bittersweet day for American equality. Yes, we just elected a black man, but Arizona also banned gay marriage yesterday, and Arkansas passed a ban on gay adoption.

It will be interesting to see if the GOP chases this micro-trend over the next four years, selling out to the social conservative wing of the party, or if they try to reinvent themselves with more paleoconservative rhetoric. We should get a clue based on who they put in the Congressional leadership positions for the 111th Congress.

Yup. Again, they're mostly outside the urban archipelago.



A friend of mine spoke very eloquently on this topic four years ago. They voted for McCain because the democratic party represents things that, to them, are utterly alien and terrible.

Now, as much as ever, we absolutely need to understand why someone would have voted for McCain. Obama himself more or less said so last night; he needs to be everyone's president, not just the half that voted for him.

And I'm amused at this, too.

Interestingly (or perhaps ironically) the local news has stated
that the high turnout of older African Americans and various
immigrant and minority groups to vote for Obama was a major
contributing factor in the passage of Proposition 8
(the anti-gay-marriage proposition).

Those groups tend to have very "traditional" views toward marriage
and supported that proposition.

Rather a bittersweet result there.

And this one's rich:

Damn Celestials.

This is as good an occasion as any to return to life here

So, congratulations, my dear American friends, on regaining your great country! Pete Seeger comes to mind, singing "This Land is Your Land" (after having overcome, of course).

Cheers!

Bonzi

Well, if you count that strange American invention, electoral votes, stranger things have been seen, say in 1964, 1972 or 1984.

Bonzi

Yeah, like being strong supporters of apartheid (err, segregation) on the "traditional South". But, let me again paraphrase Pete Seeger, "We Have Overcome"!

Cheers!

Bonzi

Yes, Senator Obama, congratulations on being elected Captain of the Titanic.

(Sorry to be such a downer, but I'm afraid the damage already done by Bush over the past 8 years, and the immense damage he will attempt in the next 25 days, have put the US into a desperate situation from which recovery will be incredibly difficult, if not impossible.)

tanstaafl.

Wow! You've not posted in years! Where have you been?

True, but the first step for any possible recovery is to get a captain who has the sense to stop ramming the iceberg after seeing how bad it went the first time. Stay the course!

Hi Bonzi!

Glad to see you're ok. I wondered what happened to you.

I think if you and I ever meet up for that big "Who's the *real* pessimist here?" arm wrassle, there's a good chance I could easily walk away with the title and the belt.

I think I am pretty clear-eyed about our current predicaments and the limited value of traditional American politics. I don't tend to be a groupie.

Funny, though, the past day. Watching video from Grant Park and from downtown Seattle and from Nairobi. November 4, 2008 was frickin HUGE. It is almost a pleasure to watch the BBC reporting now that we know "it's safe". Barack seems pretty well grounded and, dang!, he is actually SMART!!!. Michelle seems pretty normal and SMART too!!! (I pray that we don't find out that she is actually some harpie from Hell.) And he has 2 kids who are cute and maybe normal. And who get a puppy.

Anyhow, you have folks gravitating to the Lincoln Memorial to reflect on this day. This is not stage managed. It is people. So I hope there is some cause for optimism.

You want to talk about the global impact of this election? Well dig this:

It woke Bonzi up from his slumber.

So there.