Voter turnout is high today, and that's good. It's better than good. It's great. It's always heartening when you see people going out of their way to participate in our democracy.
Many of those voters were greeted by long lines at the polling places. Some of that is due to the high voter turnout, but much of it is due to machine problems, a lack of trained staff, and downright incompetence. That's bad. We've received several complaints about polling place malfunctions, and workers not knowing how to remedy the situation. The end result is people not sure their votes have been counted. Once people lose confidence in the vote, the ball game is over. It also opens the door to post-election litigation. I have a very strong feeling that some races will not be decided tonight or tomorrow. The sad part is this all could have been avoided.
Now, the ugly. A growing number of counties in our area are banning cameras from polling places. There should be one set of rules, for the entire state. Those rules should be clearly posted well in advance of the election. Today, we encountered people making rules on the fly, and when questioned, the response is "Because I said so." That's no way to run an election, and you know what can happen when things are done out of the public view. You deserve better.
