I never got a kaTHUNK (though I remember it from my parents voting.) First time I voted was the bweedloop.

The touch screens...I don't recall them making any noise. Maybe just a beep.

Oh! And you can handle way more people with each voting machine, since you don't need a machine for each voter -- given the role that unexpected lines have played in the last few cycles, that's huge even aside from the cost savings when gov'ts are having to buy new machines.

I am, apparently, in election technology fandom. And nobody's writing good fic.

I think that was one of the big drivers (cost & efficiency.) I've always had machine-per-person set up, so it'll be interesting to see the difference it makes. In 2010.

His response astounded me: "well just because I believe marriage is for man and wife, doesn't mean I think the constitution should be changed. It's not like gays are trying to say that marriage should only be between gay people, right? Because that would be wrong. So if they're not trying to take away my rights, why do I care about taking away theirs?"

That is very beautiful. I'm hopeful because the one person at work that I know voted against whatever the last thing on this was, has changed her mind on the issue.

AFAIK, my district is still using paper ballots with the old-fashioned kaTHUNK lever machines.

I was just saying in a meeting yesterday how I missed the NY machines. Here, my vote's not even private.

Chatty!co-worker and I just went to the bakery to buy presidential candidate cookies for the office.

t edit I should note that, unlike the image on the Web site, the McCain cookie DOES have him smiling. I assume that the Web-site McCain cookie is frowning because he's getting his cookie ass KICKED by cookie!Obama.

To not stir up trouble (and because the office is, as near as we can tell, split 50-50), we bought 10 of each candidate (and I bought an extra Obama cookie to take to The Boy, since he's recovering from abdominal surgery).

We brought them in 10 minutes ago, and there's 1 Obama cookie left.

There are 6 McCain cookies left. (Which just means that the McCain voters either [1] hate cookies or [2] are lazy and haven't gone to claim their cookie of oppression yet.)

It will be a big deal if NYC ever switches off the KaChunk machines - according to my now ex-govt working friends - the voting machines are controlled at least somewhat by organized crime and it's a racket.

Quick recovery wishes for The Boy.

I'm sure there will be a long wait at my polling station despite using optical scan. I can't imagine what it would be like with a system where you can't have bunches of people all filling out their papers at the same time.

We've had the scan-tron kind of paper ballots for years, and I can't see why any place wouldn't see it as the best of both worlds. All the advantages of computerized systems for instant counting, with the actual original marked-by-the-voter's-own-hand ballot right there if a backup is needed.

Yeah, that seems like the best of all worlds to me, too. Although I've only ever voted on old-school machines. My favorite was in Philly, because casting the vote opened the curtains. I still get thrown off in NY that I have make my way past the curtains....

There are 6 McCain cookies left. (Which just means that the McCain voters either [1] hate cookies or [2] are lazy and haven't gone to claim their cookie of oppression yet.)

Or maybe there are people who prefer the imagery of biting into the face of their opponent?

There are 6 McCain cookies left. (Which just means that the McCain voters either [1] hate cookies or [2] are lazy and haven't gone to claim their cookie of oppression yet.)

Or maybe there are people who prefer the imagery of biting into the face of their opponent?

I know who the Obama supporters are, and most of them almost trampled me when they saw me carrying the bakery box. I think it's safe to say that Obama supporters love cookies.

And there! NYC-istas: Ohio DOES have a cookie that isn't available year-round! (Are the Mallomars back? I assume so, b/c it's pretty late in the year.)

I wonder if any bakery around here is doing candidate cookies.