Why can't everyone vote like we do in Vermont?

[DrZeeLit]

I just got back from voting.
No lines, lots of smiles, a bake sale, what can I say, it's so cool to live in such a place.
Paper ballots -- that's the first sign we are not in Oz.
A purple, letter-sized ballot for voting on Justice of the Peace.
An over-sized (beyond legal) yellow sheet for the other offices.
No ballot issues this year, just voting for President, Senator, Congressman, and Governor, plus all the state offices and reps.

No i.d. necessary. (If anything arises, residence can be checked by: a0 your dog's license, b)driving over to your house). Just joking about that, but our neighbor has a p.o. box in a larger town, and we could have vouched for her, if they had asked, but everyone know everyone pretty much.

Name checked off before voting; checked off in another spot after voting. Finished the ballot, folded it myself, stuffed it in a wooden box. Purple ballot in one box; yellow ballot in the other.

These will be hand-counted later tonight.
We even put our names on a list to volunteer for next election.

All smiles, once again. Then we drove away.

I'm excited about this election.
And I wanted to post, just so I could use that avatar!

KERRY ON!

[bif]

1. I absolutely love Vermont

Like I tell people who haven't been there: Vermont isn't a state, it's a state of mind. What part of Vermont do you live in? An old high school friend has a folk/celtic group in Vermont.

[DrZeeLit]

13. I live in Mendon. It's near Killington.

My husband built the house 30 years ago. He's a SKIER.
I met him in CA. He had been transferred.
One day we UP and MOVED to Vermont permanently.
I LOVE IT.
I'm a third generation native CA girl, and all my friends/relations worried about me, the snow, the ice, and the COLD.
And yes, it is all that, AND I LOVE IT.

I have this philosophy now -- winter is necesary. In CA I was moving 24/7 x 365. No wonder I was burning out.
During the winter now, I just slow down and stay inside.
It's like recharging the batteries.

Sooooo... I really love that same approach to voting.
And we should start a movement -- SIMPLIFY this process.
More volunteers, less computerization. More small polling places, less confusion.

And... a bake sale at every poll!!!

KERRY ON!

[BigMcLargehuge]

2. NH was different ONLY in that our ballots are machine tabulated

very nice, albeit somewhat tense, atmosphere. Most of the poll workers recognized me from previous visits to the polling place, and from the post office where a couple of the work and I mail out my fiction submissions. HUGE gym filled with curtained tables, short line in front of the four ballot counting machines near the exit. The man standing there directing people was VERY nice and thanked each of us as we put our ballots in, face down, before leaving.

[democrank]

3. DrZee....

Had the exact same experience around 7:30 this morning in my little Vermont village. I was so proud....paper ballots, voting booths filled, friendly people waiting in line.

When I got into the voting booth, the pencil was missing. All of a sudden an arm came through the booth...with a pencil. "Thank you."
"You`re very welcome."

Pencil, X the squares, fold the ballot myself. Drop it in the box. "Have a nice day." I LOVE Vermont.

[DrZeeLit]

16. Oh, don't you just LOVE Vermont! Big smile!!!!! n/t

[cali]

4. Love how we vote

but we're scarcely the only paper ballot folks in the nation. I found that out this morning when I asked other people who voted via paper and pencil to check in. Of course a fair number did the optical scanner thing, but many others used paper ballots. Still, I often wish the rest of the country was a little bit more like VT insofar as how we vote. I hope Pat beats that miserable little skunk Jack McMullen by 40 points. Same with Bernie and whats-his-face, Parkes.

[DrZeeLit]

14. I agree. Leahy all the way!

Did you listen to him "debate" that loser?
Dear Pat opened quite a can of WhoopAss on that guy.
Sheesh.

Same with Bernie.

I am so PROUD of our leaders: Leahy, Sanders...and I have to say, I truly admire Jeffords for his courage.

I love that we have access to our representatives. If we write, they answer, in fact, it's quite possible to walk in and talk to them.

GO VERMONT!

KERRY ON!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

5. I'd love to live there...

sigh

[Fleshdancer]

6. I had a good experience too...and in TX surprisingly enough!

I did have to wait in line, but I was hoping to see a lot of people. Everyone was nice, relaxed. There was a table set up selling donuts, coffee, softdrinks, and water for very cheap. And the best part? PAPER BALLOTS! :)

[PittLib]

7. I find it somewhat odd ...

I live in the city of Pittsburgh (South Side) and I vote in a neighbors garage. They use the old lever polls ... but I'm not sure how you can possibly screw it up (please enlighten me, if you know of potential problems). It is such a pleasant experience. It seems that there are polls every few blocks. I felt very good about the experience.

[Sean Reynolds]

8. We'd have Howard Dean as president....

*sigh*. What could have been.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

9. I love Vermont. It is one of my favorite places.

I'm a native Mainer, so I've grown up loving the New England small town life style.

One of my major goals in life is to some day, say 5 to 10 years from now, own a nice house on a few acres of land in a small New England town, preferably some place in Maine.

[yvr girl]

10. Sounds like Canada

Paper ballots. Friendly poll workers. Our elections are uniform across the country. The only thing that changes is the names of the candidates in each riding.

Glad you had a good experience.

[Hand]

11. Took the words right outta my... keyboard!

:hi:

ON EDIT: Of course, our Colorado absentee ballots were easy enough--fill in the box with a pen then wait for your second mortgage to come through to cover the postage to the US! :evilgrin:

[Zuni]

12. Because the South always ruins our Pres. elections

The majority of the people outside of the South vote Dem, but there are so many nuts in the south....

[Reverend_Smitty]

15. Thats it I'm so moving to New England...

for grad school that is. I've been vacationing in New Hampshire since I was a little girl and I really want to move up there. I think that going up there for grad school is the perfect move for me, I may never want to leave! Anyone know of any GA positions for an athletic trainer that will be open around 2006? :P

[DrZeeLit]

17. Check the state schools.

I'm not sure when or how they hire, but we have five state schools and they all have lots of teams. We are division 3, so most people haven't heard of us. Most people hear of UVM. Also plenty of private schools around.

In addition, my next door neighbor is a physical therapist with her own practice. Lots of injuries on the ice -- funny, but not, you know?

Same goes for NH and Maine.

I moved without considering the job market and the saying is true:

LEAP AND THE NET WILL APPEAR.

Follow your heart.

KERRY ON!