At least we're not in Florida.
My election day adventure: I went to my polling place, I got my name checked on the list and got a ballot, I went in the little carrel and filled it out, I got my name checked on the exit list, I put my ballot in the optical scan machine, and I bought some cookies from the eighth-grade bake sale.
Meanwhile, the Secretary of State's office, or the Cambridge election commission, forgot to send out one of the four disks containing the Cambridge voter rolls to polling places, which meant a quarter of voters randomly didn't appear on their lists. So while I was doing all that, allonymist was talking to poll workers trying to re-enfranchise himself (successfully). He has more on this.
Cambridge sent out the remainder of the voter lists before noon, so if people showed up to vote after then (or came back to vote after being refused in the morning, before the problem had been figured out), they were able to vote. And it seems to be a problem of stupidity, not malice, which is good. And about what you'd expect of Cambridge.
The question is how to get them to not make a mistake like this again. I don't know how suing would help. Petitioning to have the people responsible resign would be satisfying and somewhat productive. But how do you get them to fix a process that broke so it isn't likely to break again? It should be simple. Look, mark disks 1 of 4, 2 of 4, etc., have them sent out and printed further in advance, and spot-check them. Should we just nail our demands to William Galvin's and Ethridge King's door, or what?
I am told that politely angry citizens at city council meetings can have helpful effects. I've got nothing else planned for Monday evening.
Meanwhile, the Secretary of State's office, or the Cambridge election commission, forgot to send out one of the four disks containing the Cambridge voter rolls to polling places, which meant a quarter of voters randomly didn't appear on their lists. So while I was doing all that, allonymist was talking to poll workers trying to re-enfranchise himself (successfully). He has more on this.
Cambridge sent out the remainder of the voter lists before noon, so if people showed up to vote after then (or came back to vote after being refused in the morning, before the problem had been figured out), they were able to vote. And it seems to be a problem of stupidity, not malice, which is good. And about what you'd expect of Cambridge.
The question is how to get them to not make a mistake like this again. I don't know how suing would help. Petitioning to have the people responsible resign would be satisfying and somewhat productive. But how do you get them to fix a process that broke so it isn't likely to break again? It should be simple. Look, mark disks 1 of 4, 2 of 4, etc., have them sent out and printed further in advance, and spot-check them. Should we just nail our demands to William Galvin's and Ethridge King's door, or what?
I am told that politely angry citizens at city council meetings can have helpful effects. I've got nothing else planned for Monday evening.