Everyone recover from the Apocalyptic political change from last week’s Midterm Elections yet?
Ok I had to ask because ALL Media is still reporting on how they, or should I say their overpaid polling experts, got another election landslide wrong.
Seriously how much are these “experts” getting paid to do the one thing they’re supposed to be good at and suck at it?
I get it, they’re following the “trends” but let’s remember that “trends” can be wrong, just look back at rat tails, bell bottom pants and dickies!
So here we are after 6 months of experts calling for a “Blue Wave” in the Spring that turned into a “Red Wave” for the Summer and Fall that amounted to nothing but a break-even day for all and now so many on the Right that bet the house are pointing fingers for measuring the drapes and making pledges that they just can’t keep now.
But I’m not gonna dwell on that (even though I just did) however I am gonna talk about my election day experience as a poll worker
Wrong type of poll ya dirty minded freak!
Ever since Covid hit, every State took measures to make sure everyone eligible to vote could; be it by mail-in or in person ballot. And yes folks, mail-in voting has been around for decades and ain’t going anywhere so stop the griping.
In Pennsylvania, the Covid Primary of 2020 had areas combining multiple districts under one roof plus the debut of the new voting machines. During that Primary, voters filled in their ballots (gotta fill in the circle like in high school plus there’s directions as well) while a poll worker placed the ballot in the machine.
Fast forward to the 2020 General election and the only changes the happened was that the voter got to personally scan their ballot.
Yippie!
It’s so simple, well one would think.
Here’s the issue between the 2020 General election and the 2022 Midterm election; many that used mail-in ballots now decided to show up to vote and so many complained about the current system:
1. Paper ballots, what are we going back to the stone age?:
Um, there’s a lot wrong with that statement, yet it’s a move forward because the pre-2020 machines were junk, obsolete and used a cartridge system that was very faulty. But I get it, you like to touch things to feel good
2. Some polling places moved or stayed combined with others due to building closures or larger space and some folks didn’t know. This is a constant argument as people arrived confused and the conversation usually goes: “I voted at the old place last time” Ok was that in May 2022 for the Primary?
Yes
I apologize but we’ve been here 4 elections cycles so far
Impossible I was just there!
Let’s get you a ballot and get you started
3. Following the directions:
Again, it’s a paper ballot with instruction on how to properly cast your ballot. Simply fill in the circle next to the candidate of your liking. At least a dozen or so folks either put a checkmark or “x” in the circle at my polling place. I even had one individual circle the circle (UH?)
When informing the voter they need to do another ballot as the instructions show, about half these folks get pissed at the poll worker, and those were the ladies! And yes the incorrect ballot is discarded properly per policy by the Election Judge.
4. Voter Attitude
Remember it’s not the poll workers fault that you went to the “old place” and was not made aware of changes
And from my understanding there is no difference in appearance of the ballot whether it’s a mail-in or in person, same info regardless so fill in the circle! Let’s not forget it’s your right to vote, if you don’t want to then don’t but don’t act like someone’s cattle prodding you thru the door. Simply walk in, sign in, get your ballot and follow directions
I can go on and on, hell it would make for a great conversation compared to the misinformation the well-paid partisan commentator who knows nothing about how a polling place or election actually works because they’re running their mouths on hearsay and/or partisan narratives to get the listeners all riled up.
Plus, every State has their own election policies as to why it may take longer for final decisions to be had, but again the overpaid experts are also watching exit polls/trends and if we went by those alone John Kerry would’ve been the 2004 winner!
So here we are again, the Partisan talking heads crying foul and shouting knee jerk reactions from banning mail-in voting to banning voting machines to raising minimum voting age to 21. And exactly how is that gonna make it all better?
Ban voting machines = Ok so everything becomes a mail-in ballot or in person voting, which then has to be secured, transported to the Election office to be counted by hand. Yeppers, that’s a time saver
Ban mail-in voting = Well that’ll work wonderful for the Rural communities of the MidWest which are majority RED STATES! Sorry Uncle Jesse, ya better hitch up the wagon, gather everyone on the old dirt road and get to town before Boss Hogg steals the election. (Wait come to think of it, was Boss JD Hogg a Republican and his twin brother AL Hogg a Democrat?)
Raise the age limit = What makes you think a 21 yr old is any smarter than they were when they were 18 yr old? Oh, because they’re probably getting that college degree.
How else to make it “simple,” maybe all mail-in ballots must be returned a week prior to Election Day (this included Military) and all mail-in ballots are counted beginning the night before.
It doesn’t matter how many fixes are in place because it’s our American Right to bitch, moan, kick stones and of course come up with EXCUSES EXCUSES EXCUSES as to why their candidate lost
In the end, it comes down to Quality/Character of the Candidate. If the Party’s candidate is lacking that quality, chances are they’re gonna lose but it’s easier to blame the system that person shouting one-liners to get a headline
That’s it, slap the tap, be happy there are no more political ads for a few months and pass the Holiday Cookie tray while paying your political tab
CHEERS!
