Chairman Meow
Class IV
Theirs are still longer than the one I had. This is the only state where third parties aren't allowed on the ballot at all, and there is no write-in voting.
Share your vote experience!!
- Thread starter bhsup
- Start date
Theirs are still longer than the one I had. This is the only state where third parties aren't allowed on the ballot at all, and there is no write-in voting.
Voted early last week at the local town's civic center. There was one other person there other than the hired help and it was a pretty quick and painless affair.
President: Barry/Biden (D)
Senate: Sadler :/ (D)
House: Rose Mesa Harrison (D)
Texas Senate District 20 (SD-20): Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa (D)
Texas House District 34 (HD-34): Abel Herrero (D)
President: Barry/Biden (D)
Senate: Sadler :/ (D)
House: Rose Mesa Harrison (D)
Texas Senate District 20 (SD-20): Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa (D)
Texas House District 34 (HD-34): Abel Herrero (D)
_random_
Jewel Runner
According to the link there, Ohio law is ambiguous. I doubt they'd persue it unless the circumstances were really fishy.
Thanks!Congratulations, Citizen!Vote your conscience and stand proud for doing your duty. May this lead to a long and rewarding life of voting for you!
It was a pretty nice experience. Due to some combination of time of day and a low-population precinct, I didn't have to wait in line at all.In addition to what V said, there's the "Show proof you voted for candidate X OR ELSE." possibility.
I've linked to pictures from my Facebook on here, so if they really wanted to, sure. I get the feeling I'm pretty safe though. Probably stupid to point out an easy way to trace me to any overzealous law enforcers, but whatever.
I don't see how voting for either of the main two this year could be described as "Exciting"
They ain't, but voting itself is. It's a public service and all that jazz.
So here's the ballot (apologies for the glare.):
Spoiler :
For the record, Eric Sears had Democratic competition, but I voted Republican anyway because I couldn't find anything about him besides that he was a Democrat seeking the office and he lives in Yellow Springs. No campaign material anywhere. Ain't nobody accusing Random of being a partisan hack.
I still can't help but feel that V is slightly disappointed in me though.
Not one bit. Do I agree? No, but not disappointed. You did your civic duty, man. Stand proud and tall.
GhostWriter16
Deity
Ah, so you too live in MO!
I voted likewise.
Also straight party except Peter Kinder
cybrxkhan
Asian Xwedodah
Today, in the '12 elections, I proudly voted for Theodore Roosevelt. Because America cannot afford to see a fatcat imbecile Republican nor an ivory tower Democrat. (No, really, I did vote for Roosevelt - write-in candidates woohoo. The rest of my votes were serious, though (not that my not voting for either Obama, Romney, nor a third party candidate wasn't serious, either).)
hobbsyoyo
Deity
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2012
- Messages
- 26,575
I voted in the Tenth Congressional District of Virginia about twelve hours ago. Lines were pretty short, unsurprisingly, although the after-work crowd had started to filter into the parking lot when I walked out. Described it afterwards to a friend as "took less time than jacking off". Didn't take a picture of the ballot. Didn't really care enough to.
Voted for Obama/Biden, Tim Kaine (Senator), and Frank Wolf (Representative). The first one was mostly a vote against Romney, the second was mostly a vote against Allen, and the third one was mostly a "what the hell, I don't really care" vote. Wolf's done a decent job of getting the area pork and consistently tries to make human rights concerns a relevant part of American diplomacy, but he also isn't much of a fan of most women's social issues (e.g. does not support legal abortion). Not an ideal candidate. Neither of his challengers really struck me as a decent pick either, though.
Not many ballot initiatives on the list this time around except for a redefinition of eminent domain for the VA Constitution - voted for it on more what the hell" grounds - and a few bonds the county wanted to raise for school funding - voted for them on "this is the least expensive option" grounds and because I'm not a total dick.
Voted for Obama/Biden, Tim Kaine (Senator), and Frank Wolf (Representative). The first one was mostly a vote against Romney, the second was mostly a vote against Allen, and the third one was mostly a "what the hell, I don't really care" vote. Wolf's done a decent job of getting the area pork and consistently tries to make human rights concerns a relevant part of American diplomacy, but he also isn't much of a fan of most women's social issues (e.g. does not support legal abortion). Not an ideal candidate. Neither of his challengers really struck me as a decent pick either, though.
Not many ballot initiatives on the list this time around except for a redefinition of eminent domain for the VA Constitution - voted for it on more what the hell" grounds - and a few bonds the county wanted to raise for school funding - voted for them on "this is the least expensive option" grounds and because I'm not a total dick.
Leifmk
Deity
Can we non-Americans play in this thread too? We also like to vote, you know. Voting is way cool. Just thought I'd share some details on the mechanics of voting in these particular foreign parts.
Norway has elections every two years; alternating between national elections and local/regional elections (we have two levels of government below national -- municipal (400-odd of those) and county-level (19 of those)). So we had a parliamentary election in 2009 and local elections in 2011 and another parliamentary election is coming up in 2013, and so on. I have been old enough to vote since the 1991 election and have gone every time.
Polling stations are numerous and are usually set up in schools, libraries and other such places. They're open on the day of the election from early morning to late evening (always a Monday in September, usually the second of those Mondays) and in some locations on the previous day. Advance polling stations are not as numerous, each one serves a bigger area (and unlike regular polling stations you can cast an advance vote anywhere and not just where you are registered, since they ship in all the advance votes before counting them), but are open for about a month before the day of the election. When I was younger I always used to cast my vote well in advance (a habit I picked up as a student, when I was still registered to vote in my childhood home area but physically lived in a distant city). Note: You do not have to register to vote, if you are a Norwegian citizen you are on the rolls (and legal permanent non-citizen residents are on the rolls for local elections, as well).
You stand in line (or not, depending on whether there is a line), and identify yourself to the officials; you have to show some valid ID and they check your name off the list. (Back "home" I never actually had to identify myself as it was one of those places where everyone knows who you are and who your grandparents were.) They give you an envelope and you head for a booth (one of those shower-curtain things). Inside the booth is a small desk and a rack with a set of paper ballots.
We use a system where there's a separate paper ballot for each party (etc.) running in the election, and you only choose the ballot for the party you want to vote for. (For regional/municipal elections there's two sets of ballots, one for each level, with one set printed on coloured paper. Local elections also have a pretty high incidence of single-issue "parties" that apply only locally.) Each ballot lists the candidates for that party, in order (so if Party X ends up with five seats, the first five on the list get those seats) -- there are some rules by which you can alter the ballots, however. You can give extra votes to individuals (essentially making your ballot count as if that individual had a higher position on the list; if enough people do this with the same candidate, it can matter as far as determining which people get that party's seats). Write-in candidates are also allowed on local-election ballots and it used to be possible to strike a candidate's name as well (this option was removed after it had caused a fair amount of petty local drama).
One weird feature of our system (might be considered a bug) is that any party can put any person on its official ballot, even non-members, even against that person's will. The only defense against this is being a member of another political party. It's not abused often as it might theoretically result in your party getting in a representative who doesn't want to be there and will sabotage your efforts out of sheer annoyance (I think this has in fact happened a few times in local elections).
After choosing your ballots and making any alterations, you stuff them in your envelope, seal the envelope, walk out of the booth and stuff the envelope in the ballot box. Then you go home and feel good about yourself until next election. Hopefully you didn't screw up by putting in the wrong number of ballots or making illegal alterations, because if so your vote will be invalid.
We do not vote for judges, dog catcher etc. Only for representatives in parliament (national elections) or municipal/regional council. The parliamentary system means that the party or coalition of parties with most support get to form a government with a Prime Minister (the real boss of the country, never mind the King's purely ceremonical role as head of state) and a cabinet after the election. Since governments in recent decades are always either coalitions or single-party minority governments that depend on continual support/tolerance from sufficiently many other parties in parliament, changes of government can also happen at any time apart from the elections. In the vernacular, people often speak about voting for this or that candidate for prime minister although it doesn't technically work that way (you vote for a given party, not the prime minister directly; however, under normal circumstances it's always clear who'll be getting the job if a given party wins). Local government works like a microcosm of this except that small number of municipalities have introduced direct personal election of Mayors on a trial basis (where the guy who wins has the job for the entire four years of the cycle regardless of political drama in the local council).
Referendums on particular issues are rare (there's been one national-level referendum in my time, and I've never had a local referendum in a place where I've lived) and when they are held they're usually held completely separate from regular elections. That's about all I have to say about that today; hope I didn't bore anyone to death.
Norway has elections every two years; alternating between national elections and local/regional elections (we have two levels of government below national -- municipal (400-odd of those) and county-level (19 of those)). So we had a parliamentary election in 2009 and local elections in 2011 and another parliamentary election is coming up in 2013, and so on. I have been old enough to vote since the 1991 election and have gone every time.
Polling stations are numerous and are usually set up in schools, libraries and other such places. They're open on the day of the election from early morning to late evening (always a Monday in September, usually the second of those Mondays) and in some locations on the previous day. Advance polling stations are not as numerous, each one serves a bigger area (and unlike regular polling stations you can cast an advance vote anywhere and not just where you are registered, since they ship in all the advance votes before counting them), but are open for about a month before the day of the election. When I was younger I always used to cast my vote well in advance (a habit I picked up as a student, when I was still registered to vote in my childhood home area but physically lived in a distant city). Note: You do not have to register to vote, if you are a Norwegian citizen you are on the rolls (and legal permanent non-citizen residents are on the rolls for local elections, as well).
You stand in line (or not, depending on whether there is a line), and identify yourself to the officials; you have to show some valid ID and they check your name off the list. (Back "home" I never actually had to identify myself as it was one of those places where everyone knows who you are and who your grandparents were.) They give you an envelope and you head for a booth (one of those shower-curtain things). Inside the booth is a small desk and a rack with a set of paper ballots.
We use a system where there's a separate paper ballot for each party (etc.) running in the election, and you only choose the ballot for the party you want to vote for. (For regional/municipal elections there's two sets of ballots, one for each level, with one set printed on coloured paper. Local elections also have a pretty high incidence of single-issue "parties" that apply only locally.) Each ballot lists the candidates for that party, in order (so if Party X ends up with five seats, the first five on the list get those seats) -- there are some rules by which you can alter the ballots, however. You can give extra votes to individuals (essentially making your ballot count as if that individual had a higher position on the list; if enough people do this with the same candidate, it can matter as far as determining which people get that party's seats). Write-in candidates are also allowed on local-election ballots and it used to be possible to strike a candidate's name as well (this option was removed after it had caused a fair amount of petty local drama).
One weird feature of our system (might be considered a bug) is that any party can put any person on its official ballot, even non-members, even against that person's will. The only defense against this is being a member of another political party. It's not abused often as it might theoretically result in your party getting in a representative who doesn't want to be there and will sabotage your efforts out of sheer annoyance (I think this has in fact happened a few times in local elections).
After choosing your ballots and making any alterations, you stuff them in your envelope, seal the envelope, walk out of the booth and stuff the envelope in the ballot box. Then you go home and feel good about yourself until next election. Hopefully you didn't screw up by putting in the wrong number of ballots or making illegal alterations, because if so your vote will be invalid.
We do not vote for judges, dog catcher etc. Only for representatives in parliament (national elections) or municipal/regional council. The parliamentary system means that the party or coalition of parties with most support get to form a government with a Prime Minister (the real boss of the country, never mind the King's purely ceremonical role as head of state) and a cabinet after the election. Since governments in recent decades are always either coalitions or single-party minority governments that depend on continual support/tolerance from sufficiently many other parties in parliament, changes of government can also happen at any time apart from the elections. In the vernacular, people often speak about voting for this or that candidate for prime minister although it doesn't technically work that way (you vote for a given party, not the prime minister directly; however, under normal circumstances it's always clear who'll be getting the job if a given party wins). Local government works like a microcosm of this except that small number of municipalities have introduced direct personal election of Mayors on a trial basis (where the guy who wins has the job for the entire four years of the cycle regardless of political drama in the local council).
Referendums on particular issues are rare (there's been one national-level referendum in my time, and I've never had a local referendum in a place where I've lived) and when they are held they're usually held completely separate from regular elections. That's about all I have to say about that today; hope I didn't bore anyone to death.
Chairman Meow
Class IV
Oklahoma (a state that was called by the media before a single vote was counted...)
Rashiminos
Fool Prophet
Where's your death certificate?I'm being dead serious, though I understand my reputation may preclude that conclusion from some of you.
hobbsyoyo
Deity
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2012
- Messages
- 26,575
It's not unreasonable to call a state like that before the voting has been counted. It would take a huge upset to change the outcome.
Still strange that they do it though. But I guess the pundits want to get to sleep at some point too.
Chairman Meow
Class IV
It's not unreasonable to call a state like that before the voting has been counted. It would take a huge upset to change the outcome.
Still strange that they do it though. But I guess the pundits want to get to sleep at some point too.
Oh, I know. I just find it kind of sad that most of the states are so predictable that they can do that. Basically, what I'm saying is that the states need to mix it up a little. Oklahoma should elect more Democrats, and Maryland should elect more Republicans. Ideally, both should elect some third party candidates, but let's take this one step at a time.
Supr49er
2011 Thunderfall Cup
I voted after work - took all of 10 minutes. Our county has always been extremely efficient and fast.
In Missouri, even though we went for Romney for President, all State-wide offices save one went Democratic. I think it's a bit inaccurate for the pundits to say MO is trending Republican when we have results like that.
Ziggy Stardust
Absolutely Sane
How many are there?
Governor: Jay Nixon (D) - 55%
Lieutenant Governor: Peter Kinder (R) - 49%
Secretary of State: Jason Kandor (D) - 49%
Attorney General: Chris Koster (D) - 56% <<< He used to be (R) and I didn't know he switched til I voted yesterday.
State Treasurer: Clint Zweifel (D) - 50%
EDIT: Oh, and even though it is federal, it is still Statewide. US Senate: Claire McCaskill (D) neuters "Legitimate Rape" Akin
We also proudly defeated an attempted increase in cig taxes (WOO!), defeated an attempt to make judicial selections more partisan, gave St. Louis more local control over their cops (I voted against that), and gave a little mini F-U to Obamacare from the great State of Missouri.... nothing big, just a little finger.
Yeah, it's a shame we can't be more non-partisan in national elections.
