Democracy, My Ass

I'm going to vote later tonight, but it hasn't been an easy endeavor so far. Just trying to figure out where to vote in Pocatello has been a nightmare. I had to go to my student union, praying that somebody there actually knew, since the city of Pocatello has decided the location of voting is some esoteric triviality reserved for the precious few deemed worthy of such knowledge. I now call this the Gnostic Gospel of Pocatello.

I finally found out where to vote after locating a politically savvy student, and having him call two different people (public officials) to find out where I vote.

Apparently, I'm supposed to vote at a junior high, while they're in session for school. So, I have to go to a public school, wade my way through bratty 13-year-olds, and try to figure out exactly where to go. Screw that. I'll have to wait until I'm done with work before I go. We'll just pretend that the Marshall Public Library doesn't exist in the centre of my voting district, which would be more condusive to the voting process. Arrgh! This is all assuming I'm even able to vote, since the whole local address/permanent address difference has caused problems in the past. You'd think that in a college town, they'd have figured out that issue by now. It's not as if the university spontaneously generated last week.

I think I've officially had it with America. Saying we're all about the public having a voice is a joke. People in Iraq had it better when it came to public voting. They actually got the day off from work in order to take on this serious task. I'm not saying everyone will take the time off to ponder the gravity of this responsibility, but it frustrates me to no end that those who need to vote most are the ones who are often denied the right to vote because it's more important to work and keep their job than go fill out a silly paper. Why should the right to vote be reserved only for those elite enough to have the time/money to be able to vote? Democracy, my ass!

Pam's got a much more eloquent post about protecting the vote and voter fraud over at her place.