Democracy in-action.

I proudly cast my vote today, but whether it will be counted is a different story. While there wasn't an especially long line to deal with, the poll watchers seemed, by and large, ill-trained and ill-equipped to run the polling location. Aside from my name being inexplicably excluded from the log of registered voters (despite my having the confirmation from the Board of Elections in my hand), the poll watchers were disorganized and bickering amongst themselves as to correct procedures to follow--not just for me, but for every voter in front of me. It wasn't pretty.

In the end I voted via affidavit, essentially sealing my ballot in an envelope to be checked, presumably, by "someone" with a more up-to-date voter log. Will it count? Who knows. What worries me is the thought that this is not some isolated incident, but rather a systemic problem, one that seems more likely to affect economically-challenged precincts across the country. I hesitate to say the system is broke, but it's clearly needing attention. From voter fraud, to broken machines, to poorly trained poll watchers, to politically motivated purges of voter registrations, there's no telling how inaccurate final results in an election of this scale may be. On the plus side (or down side), any state which has anything "close" in the final tally will be scrutinized and rescrutinized to squeeze every last vote out. Bottom line, voting should be simpler and more reliable, though those two concepts seem, at the moment, in conflict with one another. Here's one article which is downright frightening: http://www.truthout.org/110308A

As for my vote which may or may not count, I voted for Obama, of course, but it was not a straight Democratic ticket. Although somewhat reluctant to do so, I voted against 19-term Democratic U.S. Congressman Charles Rangel. "Change" begins with the purging of anyone who uses their power and influence for corrupt personal gain---Democrats included. He's done a lot of good for his constituents, and perhaps would still be better than his Independent/Republican opponent Craig Schley, but when it's time to go, it's time to go. Charlie, it's time to go.