Election Day
It’s election day in the US, and my morning trains were much quieter than usual, as were the streets leading to the station. Wall St. itself was still thronged, and in fact there was a line to a polling place winding down our block and past our apartment doorway, before it even opened. Based on the reduced commuter traffic, and the queue I had to fight through to exit the building, many voters opt to get it done before work.
There was no line, but lots of traffic, in the evening
Voting takes a long time in the States, because, while the media tend to focus on the presidential election as if that’s the only contest, there are several positions for which a voter must select a candidate: a senator, a couple of congressmen and one or two others, as well as the president. On top of that there are usually a number of propositions on the ballot, whereby the electorate can bypass their representatives and craft a law directly for referendum approval. And based on anecdotes from my office mate of his experience this morning, the advanced technology voting machines contribute to the delays through alarming erratic behaviour.
posted 4.11.08
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