I Just Voted, But Was My Ballot Counted?
A clumsy process offers a silver lining
Yesterday, I voted. Or, at least, I think I voted. I know I scanned my ballot.
No, I’m not spewing a conspiracy theory about the machine chewing up my vote.
This voting story is a tad more complicated.
My state’s contribution to the Vice President’s electoral college haul is not in question, but the right to vote is paramount, so, as I usually do, I went to vote early in-person.
In my district, my early voting takes place at a local library. It’s often a small crew of poll workers in a humble room next to the children’s library, with a handful of tables, ballot printers, and scanners.
Voting usually takes me less than 5 minutes.
Today, my saga lasted at least 20.
Rather than ascend to the humble room upstairs, I was directed downstairs to a basement teeming with people. The air was fetid. In hindsight, the venue was a red flag that today’s voting experience would be unpleasant.
It was business as usual after I showed my driver’s license and the cheerful poll worker hit the button to print my ballot.
Then her tablet flashed in bold: “Printer Error.”
