Overall it wasn’t a terrible experience but there is need for improvement. The drive to the polling station was only about 10 minutes. I was actually surprised to a see a line of about 60 people when I showed up. Met a neighbor that has lived 2 buildings down from me for the past 6 years and we’ve never seen each other, so the 30 minute wait to get checked in went by fairly quickly as we talked about voting, electric cars, and growing up.
The good news here is that the polling station actually had the Libertarian ballot on-hand and I didn’t have to wait for 7 hours to cast my vote, like I did a few years back. But still, I want to vote on all ballots during the primary. Why must politics be a team sport? Think about it, some people show up to vote against people and others vote for people. These candidates will have political authority over our everyday, individual lives. Of the 100+ candidates spread across the libertarian, democratic, and republican ballots, some of them will be chosen as the winners and head to the General Election, then chosen winners are given political authority of you, me, us. I should not be forced to choose a team. Let me choose the individuals who I believe will give people most liberty, regardless of their party affiliation.
There were 4 people checking-in voters and 9 booths for voting. After providing my Driver’s license, verifying my address and political party, I was given the ballot to cast my vote. Frankly, I don’t care much for the ID requirement. Once I marked the boxes, I was instructed to place my ballot into the scanner to record my vote. This sounds all well and good, but I want the scanner to show me how it recorded my vote and go home with a voter receipt, not a sticker. Think about it, every transaction, especially legal transactions, you are given are receipt. Why don’t we get one at the polling station and have the ability to verify our casted votes at any point during our existence?