The Law of Unintended Consequences is once again rearing its ugly head. This time in the form of paper ballots. A friend of mine called me yesterday, and ranted non-stop for five minutes about his voting experience earlier that day.
It took him two hours.
First, he tried to find a place without long lines. He couldn’t. Then when it was finally his chance to vote he couldn’t believe his eyes. Although politically active, he just didn’t realize that we had made the switch to paper ballots. And based on other conversations I’ve recently had, he is not alone.
Now this is a friend who does not usually vote a straight party ticket, but he did this election. He went into the polling place planning to vote for at least one Democrat that he thought was the better choice, but because the process took so long and was so frustrating, he just filled in the oval to vote a straight party ticket and called it a day.
Well, at least he voted. I’ve had other people tell me that they drove past the early polling place, saw the long lines, and just kept on driving. This Election Day promises to be a disaster. I strongly recommend that you get out there and vote early because the lines you see today are nothing like the lines you’re going to see on Election Day.
Speaking of Election Day, I’ll be back with the gang at KNME on Election Night from 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. with Election Night coverage and commentary. So, make sure to turn your television on and watch Channel 5.