Today, as an active and conscientious citizen, I voted. But, it just wasn't like it used to be. No fanfare of pulling the drapes shut. No kachunk of the vote when the lever's pressed down. No grand exit when the curtain is drawn. No intrigue. No mystery.
This is the second election our county has changed from the old, tried and true lever voting booths to the "new" optiscam (er, optiscan) ballots, and along with them, the cheap, cheesy and flimsy pseudo-aluminum framed boxes with a shelf and plastic on three sides for you to fill out your secret ballot. Man, these new voting booths are humiliating.
The old sturdy metal booths made a statement about the United States of America. They made a stately statement, and made you feel like you were a part of a strong democracy and that your vote was so well regarded that the booth was secure and felt almost virtually impenitrable. Just like your grandpa's Oldsmobile, those booths were built like tanks.
The new booths make me feel like the vote is insignificant and meaningless, even though I know the dire importance of my vote. The ballots are not even ballots anymore. They are school test sheets where you have to fill in the oval for your choice. I almost didn't vote for one of the sections because I didn't like any of the candidates, but that nagging teacher came into my head and said if you don't complete all of the questions with one answer each your test will be invalid, so I voted for the least offensive candidate.
Bring back that proud Made in the USA steel behemoth of a voting booth, and if anything, put the stupid touch screens in those monster voting booths and bring back some dignity to the voting process.
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