Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Voting

We went and voted this morning. No line, just walked right in and got down to business. The first presidential election I voted in was 1972, and I've missed only one of them since then. I thought seriously about skipping this one, but there's also a local bond issue on the ballot I actually wanted to vote on.

My parents took the concept of a secret ballot very seriously. When I was growing up, my dad might make an occasional comment that might give you a hint of who he was going to vote for, but it would just be a guess. I don't recall my mother ever making a political comment. And if you asked them outright, they wouldn't tell you who they voted for. It was nobody else's business. Nor would they even think of asking someone else who they voted for. It was none of their business. I've tried to follow their example. So I hope all of you who are eligible go and vote, if you haven't already. But who you vote for is none of my business.

12 comments:

Unknown said...

Mom use to tell dad she was canceling out his vote just to tick him off. I vote to send a message to those in charge they can be hired or fired.

Marty McKee said...

Who did you vote for, James?

Prashant C. Trikannad said...

The only time I engage in politics, if I can put it that way, is on election day when I go out and vote. The protest vote or None Of The Above is my favourite on the ballot machine.

Joe Kenney said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Joe Kenney said...

James, I misread the first paragraph of your post, so I deleted my earlier comment. I tend not to vote early, as it gives "them" more time to screw with your selections. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm about to go put on my tinfoil hat...

(Seriously, though, I read on Reddit yesterday that some early voters in TX were claiming their selections were being changed on the voting machine...didn't spend too much time researching their claims, though.)

Marty McKee said...

I guarantee those Texas voters accidentally marked their voters wrong and weren't adult enough to admit to making a mistake.

Joe Kenney said...

Marty, I thought the exact same thing! That's why I didn't bother looking into it further. There does though seem to be a lot of talk about these Smartmatic voting machines that are used in several states (don't think one of them's Texas, though). Supposedly George Soros has controlling interest in the company, and as is well-known he is enemies with one of this year's candidates. Thus it would appear to be a conflict of interest. There are also reports that Smartmatic machines were exposed for fraud in some Latin American election last year, but it's hard to tell where the truth ends and the conspiracy theories begin. Personally I think everything should be via paper ballot, which per my understanding is harder to commit fraud on. I really don't know, but I find all the conspiracy-theorizing fascinating.

Jerry House said...

Like you, James, we voted today. We picked up our 4-year-old grandson from preschool beforehand and he asked us where we were going. We told him we were going to vote. He looked confused and we told him that voting meant we were going to help elect a president. He nodded understandingly and said, "Oh, we're going to Trump." Grrrr. I won't say who I voted for but I will say it wasn't anyone I considered to be a racist, sexist, xenophobic narcissist. People down here have been talking about Trump, both pro and con, to the exclusion of any of the other candidates that his 4-year-old mind equated "vote" with "Trump." **sigh**

Neil A. Waring said...

We voted yesterday, heading on vacation tomorrow morning. I don't always like the choices but I like the fact we get to vote. No voting machines and no lines in Wyoming.

Jeff Meyerson said...

New York don't believe in no stinkin' early voting, darn it.

You can take it that people who know Trump the longest and best are voting accordingly.

August West said...

I never knew if my parents were Republican, Democrat or Independent. They never stated their political views to us or anyone else that I know of. They just flew the flag and went out as good American citizens and voted on the 2nd Tuesday in November. God love the WWII/Depression era generation. Today too many people think their political options are the right ones and feel they must voice them to others.

James Reasoner said...

I agree completely, August.