More and more I am told I must provide anything of importance digitally. Heck my Facebook feed is crowded with people purportedly able to make my life easier with the new A! Technology.
That’s why when it comes to voting I am so perplexed as to why our voting professionals have not done more to make our voting procedures simpler. Let me put it this way, in many precincts we are still voting the way we did 50 years ago.
If you listen to progressives such as Vice President Kamala Harris last week, voting should be 24 hours a day and drop boxes strategically placed throughout our larger cities so voters don’t have to wait in line to cast their ballots. They also bemoan the fact that many jurisdictions do not allow vendors to sell water and food to those waiting in line.
The waiting in line part is what I would like to address. I cannot understand why we must wait, sometimes, for hours in larger cities to vote. If we had enough personnel and machines to handle voters, we wouldn’t need expanded hours and drop boxes.
Why can’t we upgrade our process, so most workers aren’t needed? Here’s a suggestion from me, a sometimes technology challenged old guy.
Why not install turnstiles at the door at which we enter the precinct. At the door is a list of eligible voters that a computer scans. If you are eligible, the turnstiles let you in. If not, you can’t get in. Of course, there would be security present to make sure no one jumps the turnstile and weapons are confiscated.
Once inside there would be a stack of ballots, of which you take one. Another official would be nearby to ensure you only take one. But there would be no need for additional clerks behind portable tables to check your name off- that was already done by computer before you were allowed to enter. Once you had your ballot, like always, you would make your way to an empty voting booth and cast your ballot. Once done you place your ballot into the machine for tabulation, then leave.
I’m sure I am oversimplifying the process, but ever since I can remember little has changed. It still takes five or ten minutes to have your name checked off by clerks, and if there are problems it can take twice as long. And I haven’t even addressed the problem of finding competent people to administer the process. County clerks nationwide bemoan the fact that finding people is a major concern.
Why not put technology in place to eliminate the long lines? All the pundits say we want to encourage voting. You hear them pontificate on expanding hours, no ID, drop boxes, allowing vendors to provide food and drink to those standing in line, etc. etc.
Wouldn’t technology end all those worries? Wouldn’t technology offer a more pleasant voting experience and therefore bring more people out of their easy chairs to the voting booth? I certainly think so and wish those in charge would put it in to motion.
The fact that you don’t understand why it’s so hard to vote is laughable. The Republican party will do anything to make sure people have a hard time voting. No one in Michigan is making you stand in line. Have your ballot mailed to you and send it back or drop it off. If you can’t figure out why other states make it so difficult read the papers. You’re the typical conservative. Let’s find a solution for a problem that doesn’t exist.