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I went to vote around 11:15, but the line was way long (30+ people) and I wanted to get back by noon to listen to the Al Franken Show (broadcast live from Cambridge today) so I just picked up lunch and groceries. Well, the show was kinda boring so I went out again around 2:30; fortunately there was almost no line at all when I got there, but by the time I left the line was back up to 15-20 people.
I will probably have broken my streak of never having voted for a winning candidate or ballot question, since I decided to vote for the incumbent state representative Pat Jehlen over her Republican challenger, who seemed like kind of a dick. I wish I had done a little more research about her positions, but I like that she was a history teacher and I figure that will have given her a good sense of perspective.
Meanwhile, I had the pleasure of writing in "NADER/CAMEJO" because they didn't meet the MA ballot access requirements (and didn't print up stickers, as far as I know). I'm not sure what I think of allowing write-ins/stickers; I do feel that ballot access should be easier, and the requirements really ought to be uniform nationwide. But in a nearby district of Somerville, incumbent state representative Vincent Ciampa is running a sticker campaign despite having lost the Democratic party primary to Carl Sciortino in September. This is especially disturbing because Sciortino's is the only name on the ballot, and many (like me) don't bother to vote for unopposed candidates as a matter of principle, so those who stopped paying attention after the primary may end up having their vote be overturned.
Anyway, it's just one more in the long list of things that are broken about our electoral system. Even if by some miracle this Election Day really ends up being only one day, I'm hoping people will still be willing to work towards fixing things. I'm planning to write to my state senator Charles Shannon who's on the election laws committee to find out where he stands on things like IRV, full representation, and open-source voting software.
But for now, it's back to the TV. Four years ago I stayed up late with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
emmacrew and wrog watching the impossible unfold; at least it should be less bizarre this time, because we're all expecting it, but hopefully it'll turn out to be less frustrating too.
I will probably have broken my streak of never having voted for a winning candidate or ballot question, since I decided to vote for the incumbent state representative Pat Jehlen over her Republican challenger, who seemed like kind of a dick. I wish I had done a little more research about her positions, but I like that she was a history teacher and I figure that will have given her a good sense of perspective.
Meanwhile, I had the pleasure of writing in "NADER/CAMEJO" because they didn't meet the MA ballot access requirements (and didn't print up stickers, as far as I know). I'm not sure what I think of allowing write-ins/stickers; I do feel that ballot access should be easier, and the requirements really ought to be uniform nationwide. But in a nearby district of Somerville, incumbent state representative Vincent Ciampa is running a sticker campaign despite having lost the Democratic party primary to Carl Sciortino in September. This is especially disturbing because Sciortino's is the only name on the ballot, and many (like me) don't bother to vote for unopposed candidates as a matter of principle, so those who stopped paying attention after the primary may end up having their vote be overturned.
Anyway, it's just one more in the long list of things that are broken about our electoral system. Even if by some miracle this Election Day really ends up being only one day, I'm hoping people will still be willing to work towards fixing things. I'm planning to write to my state senator Charles Shannon who's on the election laws committee to find out where he stands on things like IRV, full representation, and open-source voting software.
But for now, it's back to the TV. Four years ago I stayed up late with
emmacrew and wrog watching the impossible unfold; at least it should be less bizarre this time, because we're all expecting it, but hopefully it'll turn out to be less frustrating too.