Polling place problems

I went to vote rather early in the morning, hoping to beat the crowds. My strategy worked, and I was able to vote really quickly. However, I saw much that disturbed me at my polling place. First, one of the people checking us in was so old that I'm not sure he could even function much less read the small print on the voter rolls. Poor guy. They should have had him handing out stickers or something. Not good.

Second, and far more disturbing, was the attempt of some of the workers to turn an unregistered voter away because she did not have ID. This really, really pissed me off. You do not need ID to vote or register in Minnesota. You can show up on election day, register, and then vote. All you need is proof of residence (ID) OR a utility bill OR someone from the district who can vouch for you. This woman had a friend who was vouching for her, yet they tried to turn her away. I spoke up and said that was not the law, and the person in charge of the place came over and agreed with me. Thank goodness. I was very angry, as they almost sent someone away for no reason. I was even more angry when I learned this was happening in lots of places. The Strib was even reporting that poll stations were checking IDs. WTF???? That is not right.

To make good use of my anger, I decided to write to the Secretary of State's office. I wrote a relatively polite email and thought I would never hear from them again. However, within 20 minutes, I had a response back saying that I was correct and that they were going to call the precinct and remind them of the correct law. She even CCed the guy who was supposed to make the call. I guess it pays to be an attorney sometimes (I wrote the email from my work account). Pretty cool.

Despite the quick response from the Secretary of State, I still feel pretty worried about the state of our elections. My polling place was sort of a shit show, with people not knowing what they were doing, etc. I can only imagine what other places were like, and how many voters were turned away. So sad, and pathetic really. Democracy can't work like that - we need to do better! The whole thing made me angry enough that I am thinking about volunteering to be an election judge next time around. Only problem - I would want to root for my candidates and I couldn't do that if I was a judge. I guess I'll decide next go round.

What's nuts is that Minnesota actually is WAY better than many places. Think of how many people probably were improperly denied the right to vote all over the country. That makes me very sad. And angry. It's not right, period.

Message from all of this: know your rights as a voter, and speak up for yourself. The election judges don't always know what they are doing, and they are often wrong. Minnesota has liberal voting laws, and odds are good that you should be able to vote. Please, please, please stand up for your rights! It's your duty and right as an American. Don't let your voice be silenced!