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First Take

Comment and commentary on events in government and technology

11/03/06 -- 02:02 PM

By Tom Temin

I voted early, but not often

I voted today in Montgomery County, Md. because I’ll be out of town Tuesday. We’ve got as many wacky races as anywhere and I hate missing a vote. (My wife is ready to pull the cables off the back of our TV sets, she is so repulsed by the campaign commercials. They really are appalling, patronizing collections of slickly-produced, er, lies. From both parties, thank you.)

May I ask a question? Why in the heck do you not need a photo ID in order to vote? With all the hyper-sensitivity about voter fraud these days, you’d think some basic authentication would be required in order to vote.

I faxed in my absentee ballot application earlier this week, two hours before the cutoff. Next day, I couldn’t verify receipt because the election board phone system put callers into an endless waiting loop. But I did punch other buttons and reached the Republican election judges office, just to talk to someone, anyone. There a nice lady had me re-fax my application and promised to walk it over. She explained that in our county, fully one third of voters vote absentee, and that the night before alone, 1,200 faxes had arrived. Who knew?

So this morning I drove to our county election board headquarters, located in an abandoned middle school that shows its age and neglect. But the election board offices, shabby and cluttered though they were, were populated by people who seemed to know what they were doing. They had record of my application. I was given a paper ballot and decided to vote then and there, to save myself 78 cents in postage. The hallway was lined with voting booths. The ballot required blackening ovals with a No. 2 pencil, so I presume it will be machine-read. On Election Day, the county will use an electronic voting system.

I put the ballot in the envelope, sealed it, signed it and handed it in. It was dropped into a box, and I presume will be counted. But at no time did I have to prove who I was.

Am I missing something here?

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