OBLIGATORY I VOTED POST

[bobemm]

OK!

1. Somebody put Stabenow and Granholm signs in my yard without asking (I live on a busy road kitty-corner from the polling place, so such things are to be expected). Which in principle really pisses me off, but in practice I'm not removing them.
2. The tally on the tabulator was 442, which is sort of disappointing for this precinct, but I guess we've still got a few hours.
3. And, I got in right before the line started forming, maybe lots of people will vote after work.
4. Nobody harassed me, as expected. This is a super-progressive area, the election workers actually want people to vote, even if their skin is a bit dark!
5. What are we coming to if that's remarkable?
6. All dems, except for County Commission - I wrote in qmrf, because Peterson is a right bastard and I have no idea how he won the primary BY NINE VOTES and man does that guy really piss me off.
7. Every time I pass over a Green for a Dem, it makes me sad, but I just don't think it's practical this year.

If you aren't sure that you're going to vote today, let me make a suggestion - DO IT GOD DAMMIT. Even if you're a Republican. Eew, sigh.

Comments

[likeawoman.livejournal.com]

apparently voter turnout in midmichigan is so high that many precincts have run out of ballots (according to tv 5), so don't let it get you too down. our tabulator was around 375 at 2pm. the election workers were just a bunch of crabby officious old people, no hassle.

[chucknoblet.livejournal.com]

I was actually suprised and happy and a little bit guilty about how young our workers were. And they were taaalking and laughing and seemed to be having fun. I would be tense as hell. Oh wait, I am.

[matintin.livejournal.com]

I never did get registered, or an absentee ballot. It's near to impossible to register for the first time if you left the country as a child.

[chucknoblet.livejournal.com]

IF WE DON'T TAKE THE HOUSE I BLAME YOU

[matintin.livejournal.com]

THEN THE TERRISS HAVE ALREADY WON.

[chucknoblet.livejournal.com]

You mean the Republicans???

[matintin.livejournal.com]

More scared of them than anyone.

[chucknoblet.livejournal.com]

Exactly. And they scare people on purpose to manipulate their behavior. What is the definition of terrorist again? HA!

[matintin.livejournal.com]

Oh dear. I could've made a difference, too:

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2006/pages/results/states/IL/H/16/district.html

[chucknoblet.livejournal.com]

oh noes :(

[marqkay.livejournal.com]

i didn't vote today...in either state. when i left maine i didn't really give it much thought that the elections were coming up and since i am stil technically a maine resident i should have voted absentee. although since i have been down here i know more about the issues down here...regardless, i didn't vote today.

[chucknoblet.livejournal.com]

oooh, if you were close by, I'd give you like a smack! ;-P

[doombeast.livejournal.com]

I was asked for a photo ID. Luckily Im white so this doesnt constitute harassment or suppression.

[chucknoblet.livejournal.com]

Eh, I could disagree.

In any case, it's no less a symptom of a systematic attempt at suppression, which is no less sad.

[doombeast.livejournal.com]

What if I dont feel harassed/suppressed? I ask because I'm not particularly experienced at playing the victim.

[chucknoblet.livejournal.com]

Sigh. I wish I had the energy to teach you some elementary sociology. But I don't, so suffice it to say, you are not who I'm worried about.

[doombeast.livejournal.com]

I dont need to be taught elementary sociology to know that rich white men are the source of all non-rich white men's problems. Because I already hear that plenty from people who perfer to live their lives blaming others for their every failing or hardship rather than assume some degree of accountability for their own life.

[chucknoblet.livejournal.com]

By being a white male, you have an advantage the moment you are born (do you dispute that?), and you can't take credit for it. Due to the fact that you can't take credit for it, "accountability" has nothing to do with it.

[doombeast.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I do dispute this advantage. Nothing in my life has ever been free simply because of the color of my skin. Public schools, middle class family, student loans at a state university. Not seeing this "white advantage." You're certainly welcome to tell me otherwise, because lord knows Ive never had to work for anything because Im white. And accountability has everything to do "with it." People can spend their whole lives crying about the deck being stacked against them if they want. Or they can stop fooling themselves into believing that they cant better themselves because they're not white. No skin off my white ass.

[doombeast.livejournal.com]

Oh wait, according to the census, I make some ~2000$ more annually than the poverty line. That must be clear evidence of the "white male advantage" Im been cruising on for a quarter-century.

[chucknoblet.livejournal.com]

Well, I know that you're wrong, but as I said I don't have the energy to educate you.

When did you get your first car? Who paid for it? Who paid for the insurance, and the gas?

[qmrf.livejournal.com]

I think you're both seeing a little bit of the ecological fallacy. Simply: a trend that exists across *groups* cannot be used to make statements about *individuals*.

Example of the ecological fallacy: "You're students, right? The Precinct 3-1 table is over there." First, just because most residents of the 3-1 are students, and we live in the 3-1, doesn't mean we're students. Second, just because most students in the third ward live in the 3-1 doesn't mean that any given student lives in the 3-1.

Similarly, just because white privilege does in fact exist doesn't mean that any given white person is measurably advantaged in a certain set of ways over any given black person. The statistical effects of white privilege are not applicable on person-to-person pairwise matchups; therefore any statement either you or doombeast make that regards him personally, regarding income or the like, isn't necessarily true.

On the other hand, I was recently pointed to this article on more intangible but real ways in which white privilege is experienced by individuals. e.g. "I do not have to educate my children to be aware of systemic racism for their own daily physical protection."

[usexpat.livejournal.com]

I feel bad that I didn't register for an absentee ballot. This will be the first election where I didn't vote. Plus I am re-thinking my political views.

[jamie95.livejournal.com]

I was #870, going in 15 minutes before closing.

[qmrf.livejournal.com]

My ballot was #3 at 8 am; my precinct only tallied 228 ballots (26% of registered voters) all day.

Compare to your precinct's 56% turnout and 750 ballots.

Hooray for living in the student ghetto!