Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Michigan's Joke of a Primary

I got up early yesterday and carted my ass through gunk of a freshly fallen snowfall to make it to my local polling place with time enough to wait in the long line with hopes of casting a vote in the Michigan Primary.

I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to vote at all as I heard one has to be a registered Democrat or Republican to fill in the appropriate ballot. My voter registration card reports that I'm neither as, when I turned 18, I wrote "ABOLISH THE TWO PARTY SYSTEM!" on my initial application.

The last few times I had managed to find my polling location -- they like to change it up to keep things "fresh" every few years apparently -- there were kids in the hallways selling baked goods and coffee for everyone waiting around. This time there were no kids. But, then again, there were no people. It was me and the quartet of gray-haired ladies that ran the joint.

I won't make it a secret. I opted to fill in the Democratic ballot. It took me longer to walk to the little desk with its "hood" that gave me privacy than it did to blacken my selection. When I took the ballot to the auto-counter and slid it in, it told me that I was the ninth person that day to do so!

In short, this whole primary thing feels a little bit like a joke, especially when Michigan moved its date and pissed off the Democratic and Republican parties, leaving the Democratic ballot without some of the biggest contenders in their's party's bid for presidency. It all felt like a tremendous waste of time.

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