Observations at the Humanities and Technology Crossroads
Vote Early and Vote Often
I had the distinct privilege of voting by mail for the November 4 general election and I’m glad to say it was a fairly painless process. I was even able to register to vote by e-mail (although I had to mail in my registration form via snail mail, the e-mail was sufficient for sending me a ballot).
On election day, Sterch’s in Chicago would give you a free beer if you showed up and presented your voting receipt. I got mine with my ballot. I wonder if they’ll email me a beer?
Voting in Chicago, well, politics in general, has always been turbulent, sometimes corrupt, and full of theatrics. Here are some links to some of the more memorable political events in recent history:
- The “Chicago Machine” steals the 1960 presidential election
- Wikipedia explanation of the Chicago Democratic Machine under mayor Richard J. Daley
- Council Wars: Term coined by Aaron Freeman (who I met and liked quite a bit), Chicago Public Radio chronicles the event (with audio), NPR audio program on the deceased mayor Harold Washington, Wikipedia info on Council Wars
Barak Hussein Obama considers himself to be from Chicago (although he was born in Hawaii). Let’s hope that if he is elected president, we don’t see the kind of racial politics (Council Wars) that I lived through in the mid 80s in Chicago.
Here’s to a clean and fair election. May the best candidate win!
| Print article | This entry was posted by Gustave Stresen-Reuter on October 25, 2008 at 8:24 pm, and is filed under Life on Gran Canaria. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
about 1 year ago
En beneficio de la democracia, espero que hayan evolucionado un poco en el tema de las papeletas.
Por otro lado, me sorprenden dos cosas del sistema de votación estadounidense. Una es lo curioso que resulta el hecho de que, para ejercer tu “derecho” al voto, tengas que inscribirte previamente, como si tuvieras que ganarte ese derecho a ir. Otra, que los resultados no se sepan en la misma noche de las votaciones. Sabemos que las votaciones son el día 4 de noviembre, pero… ¿cuándo sabremos el nombre del nuevo presidente?
about 1 year ago
Hola Fer!
Creo que la necesidad de inscripción es porque allá no existe ningún registro central de la gente. Por ejemplo, no tenemos un carnet de identidad como aquí y por lo tanto, no hay manera de controlar si una persona ha votado más de una vez sino a través de una inscripción previa. Me imagino que podrías inscribirte en varios estados (ya que la inscripción es por condado, si no me equivoco) y el mismo martes votar en todos, pero al inscribirte te obligan a firmar un papel diciendo que no estás cometiendo ningún fraude y que sólo estás votando una vez a pena de no sé qué etc… Y encima, si se enteran de alguna irregularidad, to voto no cuenta.
Gracias por la perspectiva. Se agradece.
Teo