Bless every one of those volunteers at the polls - no matter what their level of competence, their patience with the throngs of humanity waiting to cast a fundamental cog in the republic of the USA. I spent over two and a half hours total on two occasions waiting for computer problems and just downright long lines to vote for the myriad of things on the ballot here in California (or Kah * lee * fohn * yah if you recognize the Austrian Governator's pronunciation). I stood and watched individuals take advantage of lines, and due to the selfish or stupid behavior of those few, the time in line increased for everyone. I will explain -
The line was a single line until you got to the little room with the volunteers, tables, and computers, when it split to A-L and M-Z for the last name, to acquire signature and verification and the magic card to collect the votes. While waiting, just from the little room, I was three people from the table in the A-L line. At least four people behind me in line went to the M-Z line because there was no wait, only to have a last name in the OTHER category, so they just slid them over instead of making them return to the back of the line. When I finally reached the table, they informed us the computers were down and two different voluteers were trying to get through to tech support, and both were telling everyone the line was busy. The lady in line behind me suggested to the volunteers at the table only one should call, while the other takes care of issues like these people "cutting" in line, the general chaos that prevailed in the room, and anything else on her mind at the time.
After waiting one hour longer for the repair of computers, I had too many obligations to wait, with kids getting out of school, homework, football practice, etc., so I left with intent to return and vote. The process concluded at 8:23 PST, my vote is now cast.
Why is the old "X" the box ballot so bad?
