Election Day letdown
Last night was a letdown, not because a measure I was in favor of didn’t pass, but because voting is changing.
Snohomish County had an all mail-ballot election. I understand this saves lots of money over a polling place election. Call me old fashioned, I really, really like going to the polling place.
I think Larimer County in Colorado had it right, where the clerk and recorder, Scott Doyle, got rid of the polling place and instead made it so you could vote at any one of about 25 vote centers throughout the county. It is a great system and it alleviates the massive costs associated with polling place voting but still allows people to vote the old fashioned way.
Here in Washington state, it seems that most counties do an all mail-ballot election. I’m going to prepare myself for disappointment on Election Day 2008. There’s something about standing in that little booth, or hunkering down behind a privacy screen and filling out the little scantron sheet. Something about waiting in line to do this. I’m not sure what it is, but if you know feel free to comment.