Did you vote early?

[scrivener]

Re: Did you vote early?

Deep breath. I will try once more.

Do you hear what I'm trying to ask? I'm trying to say that if you don't have faith in any of the candidates, do you at least believe in the democratic process enough to take half an hour twice every two years to go to the polls, sign your name for a ballot, and turn it in blank?

I HEAR what you're saying. You aren't acknowledging in any way that you're hearing what I'm saying. Please try. You don't have to agree with me that it's worth it to cast a blank ballot, but you're not even telling me if you're hearing me say that.

[damontucker]

Re: Did you vote early?

Deep breath. I will try once more.

Do you hear what I'm trying to ask? I'm trying to say that if you don't have faith in any of the candidates, do you at least believe in the democratic process enough to take half an hour twice every two years to go to the polls, sign your name for a ballot, and turn it in blank?

I HEAR what you're saying. You aren't acknowledging in any way that you're hearing what I'm saying. Please try. You don't have to agree with me that it's worth it to cast a blank ballot, but you're not even telling me if you're hearing me say that.

Ok scriv -

I've taken two deep breaths....

and as PZ may say... getting a definitive answer out of me is like pinning jello to a tree.

I have faith in candidates.... I don't have faith in who I choose or why I choose them as I don't follow politics as closely as an informed voter should...yeah I follow maybe more than others... however, I'm highly influenced by bogus stuff.

I'm sorry if you mis-interpretided my laziness statement.... it was more of a dang... I'm sick of politics kind of a statement....I know every vote counts... but I don't want any person that might be reading HT cast a vote because of something I may say...when I'm just a freaking poster of things I observe.

I hate politics in general.... I guess I should stick to the NFL thread....that's more to my taking right now.

[Palolo Joe]

Re: Did you vote early?

You don't have to agree with me that it's worth it to cast a blank ballot, but you're not even telling me if you're hearing me say that.

I don't think he heard you, Scriv.

[oceanpacific]

Re: Did you vote early?

I'll be out-of-town on Saturday, so I voted at City Hall last week. Took the electronic ballot and used the touch screen.

You have lots of chances to change your mind by going back before casting your FINAL vote. Lot easier than having to get a new ballot because you punched out the wrong choice.

There was a good crowd there, but the entire process was a breeze.

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Did you vote early?

I'm a little confused. Mel quotes from the elections guide:

When voting in the primary, you are presented with a set of color-coded party ballots on a Ballot Card, but must vote on only one party or nonpartisan ballot. Selecting candidates from more than one party ballot or nonpartisan ballot will invalidate your vote.

That's similar to our WA ballots; all candidates are listed on one ballot, with color coded sections for the partisan races. We also have to identify a specific party affiliation on said ballot, then only vote for the candidates of that party. Invalidation rules seem the same. What party you choose on that ballot remains secret and anonymous - and it does not have to be the party with which you generally affiliate, if any. You are just selecting which party's slate you will vote for in that specific primary.

But scrivener makes reference to an open primary in Hawai`i:

With the open primaries we have, there's nothing to stop crossover voting for devious, political reasons.

Technically, if you are restricted to voting for candidates of only one party (whichever party you choose to dance with on that day), it is not an "open" primary, by the usual definition.

A truly "open" primary means you can vote for whoever you like, regardless of your choice of party (or no party at all) - if there are twelve races, you could vote for nine Republicans, one Democrat, one Libertarian, and one Lemurian - you get to vote for who you think the best individual is. In WA, we tried to go with that system, where the general election would be between the top two primary vote-getters, again regardless of party.

The Dems & GOP successfully fought that system in the courts here, which is why we have to anonymously declare a party for that day's primary.

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Did you vote early?

It's not a question of picking the winner, it's a question of who think will work best for you.

Thank you, helen! That's exactly the attitude I take, whether it's a vote for politicians or the Hokus --- always vote for who you feel is the best candidate, not who you think is a likely winner.

[pzarquon]

Re: Did you vote early?

Just like going to movies on "opening night" is sometimes a worthwhile effort, making it more an event than just a movie, I think as a wannabe political wonk I like voting on election day.

I've voted absentee before, and have thought about going today... but the weather is conspiring against me, and I still haven't made up my mind in some races (i.e. Congressional District 2). So I just might join the party at the local gymnasium on Saturday.

[Adri]

Re: Did you vote early?

I vote by absentee ballot but, rational or not, sometimes I wonder if voting early counts in the election. I know they literally count or should count but they count absentee ballots last and before they do, people are generally hailing the winners already.

Regarding plunking (casting a ballot without voting in a particular race) ~ I do know at least some politicians look at how many ballots were submitted and how many votes were actually cast for them even if they're running unopposed. Perhaps especially if they're running unopposed, if there is a large discrepancy between the number of ballots submitted and the number of votes the candidate got, it often sends a message to the candidate that even if they got elected, there are a fair number of people who are probably dissatisfied with them or perhaps they are not doing a good enough job letting people know what they've been accomplishing.

[Miulang]

Re: Did you vote early?

A truly "open" primary means you can vote for whoever you like, regardless of your choice of party (or no party at all) - if there are twelve races, you could vote for nine Republicans, one Democrat, one Libertarian, and one Lemurian - you get to vote for who you think the best individual is. In WA, we tried to go with that system, where the general election would be between the top two primary vote-getters, again regardless of party.

The Dems & GOP successfully fought that system in the courts here, which is why we have to anonymously declare a party for that day's primary.

Leo, I learned something new about primary elections last night, too. Wiki's definition of an "open" primary is exactly what HI and WA now have: you can vote for any candidate, but once you vote for a candidate of one party, you have to vote for other candidates in other offices who are of the same party in order to have your ballot be marked valid. What WA used to have is called a "blanket" or Louisiana style primary, where you can vote for any person from any party (one vote per office). A "closed" primary is one where only registered party members can vote for candidates of that party (like in a caucus). 19 states currently use an open primary format. HI used to be like IL and OH, where you had to vote according to your party vote from the previous primary election (and you wonder why there were issues with voter fraud in OH ).

Miulang

[Linkmeister]

Re: Did you vote early?

I vote by absentee ballot but, rational or not, sometimes I wonder if voting early counts in the election. I know they literally count or should count but they count absentee ballots last and before they do, people are generally hailing the winners already.

Well, heck, if that stopped people, most of California and Hawai'i shouldn't bother to vote in national elections.

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Did you vote early?

Thanks, Miulang - that terminology clarifies things quite a bit.

[Palolo Joe]

Re: Did you vote early?

Happened to be passing by Honolulu Hale, so I stopped in to cast my vote.

In and out in about 15 minutes. Around lunchtime, no less.

Electronic voting is easy as can be, and it's reassuring to see a paper record of your ballot being printed out and collected by the machine in addition to the on-screen confirmation.

Worst part about the process? The overzealous retiree directing traffic at the entrance. Funny how she was all smiling and helpful to the mother in front of me walking in, but switched to a frown and snarled "you go sit over there!" at me when I got to her.

At least the woman who checked my ID was cute.

[Pretender]

Re: Did you vote early?

I vote by absentee ballot but, rational or not, sometimes I wonder if voting early counts in the election. I know they literally count or should count but they count absentee ballots last and before they do, people are generally hailing the winners already.

Absentee balots are now included in the "first printout" which usually is released soon after the last polling station closes. So I guess you could say that they are actually one of the first to be counted.

[Adri]

Re: Did you vote early?

Absentee balots are now included in the "first printout" which usually is released soon after the last polling station closes. So I guess you could say that they are actually one of the first to be counted.

Ah! Good to know, thanks!

Linkmeister I didn't say it stopped me, just that I sometimes felt that way

[damontucker]

Re: Did you vote early?

Worst part about the process? The overzealous retiree directing traffic at the entrance. Funny how she was all smiling and helpful to the mother in front of me walking in, but switched to a frown and snarled "you go sit over there!" at me when I got to her. .

Maybe she reads HT...

Just ribbing you pj...