Early election results

  Vote! 
  Originally uploaded by plemeljr.

I'm thrilled that Deval Patrick won in our state. Fantastic.

It feels good to see Santorum ousted.

I'm really disappointed that CT put Lieberman back in office. blech.

I'm not counting my chickens but it could be a great night for the Democrats.

We need an opposition party to the current executive branch.

related note: i don't know if it's just my sleepy little town or everywhere but I noticed that they didn't check IDs when i voted today. I just walked up, gave my name and address and I picked up my ballot.  Also when I checked in I was able to see the list that had all of my neighbors and their associated political party. Not good at all. Plus more of this stuff makes me uneasy.

Comments

[Chris Devers]

Massachusetts voting doesn't require ID -- my precinct in Somerville is the same as you describe, and from what I can tell, this is how it's done statewide.

I'd assumed that the voter registration rolls are a matter of public record, with all the details in them included -- name, address, and party affiliation. If that's correct, then having the list easily perusable doesn't seem so bad to me.

Besides, checking ID seems like potentially false security; a solution in search of a problem. If we're having this much trouble getting poll workers to understand electronic voting machines, then having them spot real vs. fake IDs is probably out of the question.

If we wanted real voter ID fraud security, we could do what some countries do: when you go to vote, you have to dip your thumb in indelible ink that doesn't come off for a week. If you show up again with ink on your thumb, you get kicked out. Simple to enact, simple to enforce, hard to circumvent.

Somehow I can't see that catching on in the US. It isn't such an awful idea though...