Got to the polls at 7 AM and it took me an hour to get in and out. There were only 20 people in front of me in line when I got there... and then I watched the two poor 70+ year-old souls working the voter validation machines fight with them for 40 minutes to no avail... not a single person moved in or out for 40 minutes... what a disaster. (and I watched as person after person bailed out of line and left)
Then, when I got to the point of being able to vote, they asked me whether I wanted electronic or paper... I figured electronic would be faster, so I chose that... WRONG.
When I got to the machine (the one and only), I found to my surprise, it was not turned on. I asked another volunteer if there was some trick I was not aware of to get it work and then watched for 10 minutes as he and his compatriots consulted with one another on how this curious machine might work... I then gave up that game, took my paper ballot, and was out 5 minutes later. (though I did pass another perplexed voter staring at the blank electronic voting machine screen on my way out, which was at least some amusement after the entire experience)
I agree with all the comments about how much we need to appreciate the freedom to vote, but today's experience did not exactly support the image of the well-oiled American voting machine.
Jason
